Full Circle
by Plesiosaur
Summary: The third and final installment in the Foundlings universe trilogy. Dark clouds are massing on the horizon, not everyone will survive the coming storm. But family will always be there for each other. Won't they?
1. Chapter 1

**Well hello and welcome, please take a seat. You are cordially invited to the third and final installment of the Foundlings trilogy. From here on out the gloves are off, nobody is safe and nothing can be assumed. I've been working on this plot for... since I started writing Adventure Time fanfic, and that's been a while. So, yeah, I've had a long time to work on this.**

 **As per usual with the Foundlings series there will be OCs aplenty, action, character deaths and plot twists. I've also gone a little off script with backstory and some of it might not all be 100% canon compliant. But you're ok with that, right? There'll be some surprises I hope anyway. And just like the other two stories in the trilogy there will be some homoerotic sexytimes, so if you're not down for that then DO NOT READ IT. Anyone who sends me flame reviews because there's gayness in the story will be summarily mocked.**

 **So, without further ado: sit back, grab your popcorn, enjoy the chapter and do not forget to drop me a review and let me know what you think.**

 **Content Warning: implied offscreen character death, agony, not-graphic hetero sex, feels.**

* * *

The sun had just set, the kids wanted to play and their grandmother was more than happy to take them outside and shoot some hoops. It was an idyllic family scene, she was just kicking back with the kids and having fun. There was nothing at all to indicate that she was about to fall out of the air writhing and screaming with instantaneous agony.

Kim was closest to her; he reeled back in horror and yelled to his brother to be heard over the inhuman screaming.

"TV! What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't touch her! She just started screaming!"

"Grod, TV, go get Dad!"

"Fuck, can vampires have strokes?" Is that something that can happen?"

"Just shut up and get Dad!"

"Gran Gran? Can you hear me?"

Only just, through the horror and pain thrashing loose in the back of her skull, but Marceline was vaguely aware of her grandson's voice. Even still she couldn't reply. Only choked wails of pain escaped her lips and she arched back with the agony, trying to free the awful recoil in her mind. There was a severed connection that should be tied and her whole being was reverberating with the horrifying, dizzying sensation that something had ripped free that should be fixed to- _something-_

"MATILDA!"

And there it was. That was the agony, the broken connection. She knew who'd been lost if she tried to push past it, fight upwards against the torrent of indescribable pain bearing down on her mental defences. Her psychic landscape was churning like a ship in a storm, bright and intense agony filled every fibre of her. Where there'd been two thick ropes of mingled blood and magic leading off into the distance a second before, now there was only one. One throbbing mental connection, glittering and vital, that lead to Zoe's mind; too far off to influence but always subtly _there_ in the back of her head reassuring her that Zoe was alive and still linked to her. The other connection- the only other member of her lineage- thrashed like a raw nerve caught in a storm, cut away from its anchor point. And that meant, _oh Matilda-_

"Tilda."

Jake arrived at a gallop with TV at his side and the other pups backed away, letting him crouch by his mother and wrap his magically lengthened arms around her. She was aware he was talking to her in a low and urgent voice but couldn't make out the words, the pain was too consuming. But he was lifting her now, she didn't weight anything anyway and he was a strong guy. Cradled in her son's arms she whimpered and sobbed against the steady pulse of agony flooding her brain. It was lessening, slowly. The connection was dying like a tree root left exposed to the sun. Matilda was dying.

"I used to be the one who carried you when you were sick." she whispered blearily to Jake. He smiled sadly down at her.

"I remember. I'm taking you home, Mom. What happened? Are you ok?"

"Matilda's dead." she replied with a horrified shiver, guilt and the ghost of agony turning her limbs to water. "I can fly, I think." she mumbled after a couple of minutes. But Jake shook his head and held onto her more firmly, she was shamefully glad of it. If the pain came back she'd fall out of the air, she didn't trust herself to move just yet.

"You felt it when she died?" Jake asked in a voice full of horrified sympathy after a few minutes.

"Mental Sire link. It snapped. I didn't know that's what it would feel like or even that it could happen over such a great distance. Jake, she's _dead_. She's been around almost for as long as I have, she was there for me for nine hundred years. And now she's just gone. What the hell happened? Who killed her?"

She wasn't expecting a reply and he knew it. He just hugged her closer and began to hum the same comforting ancient tune she'd sang to him and his siblings on hundreds of sleepless nights when he was just a puppy.

 _Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme._

 _Remember me to one to lives there._

 _She was once a true love of mine._

Marceline smiled despite the lingering pain and the grief that was beginning to push through the numb shock. Jake was many things but right now he was sensitive and kind; of all of her children she was glad he'd been there when it happened. Jake wasn't someone who would waste time with unnecessary panic.

He had stretched his legs to almost a hundred metres long, sweeping them along the path from his grasslands home back towards the Candy Kingdom at a swift speed. As they walked Marceline's mind raced, trying to find answers without even the smallest amount of information. Zoe and Matilda had simply disappeared one day, gone looking for some mysterious threat that nobody had any idea about. If they'd found anything they hadn't sent a message to let her know. Marceline had no idea what had happened to them since they'd left Ooo, it didn't stop her trying to desperately search the Sire link to Zoe for clues.

"It's my fault."

"No it isn't. They left of their own accord. They knew it was a risk."

"I'm responsible for them. I'm their monarch and Sire."

"They made a choice and you're not to blame. You sound like Mama."

Marceline shook her head with bittersweet fondness.

"For shame, Jacob Dog Abadeer. Playing one mother off against another is bad karma. Your Mama is an excellent queen-"

"-To everyone but herself." Jake finished with a wry smile. It had been their secret joke since he was old enough to notice that Bonnie didn't always take good care of herself the way she did everyone else. "I know. And right now you sound like her when she's being stubborn about something. So just- oh, speak of the demon."

A figure was hurry towards them through the gloom, she must have seen them coming from the window of her study and come down to meet them. It was unusual enough for Jake to come up to the palace since their fight a month ago; Marceline was still sad they hadn't properly made up. She hated conflict within her family.

"Jake? What happened? Why is your Mom covered in dirt?" Bonnibel demanded as they strode into the courtyard of the palace that had been Jake's childhood home. She tried to pry Marceline from Jake's arms but he held on stubbornly.

"Hey, I'm not well enough for you to play tug-o-war with me." Marceline mumbled, closing her eyes against the awful pounding that was still achingly present in the back of her head.

"Marcy? What's wrong?" Bonnie asked again in a gentler tone. Marceline carefully disentangled herself from Jake's arms and risked hovering forward. When she didn't immediately fall out of the air from the agony she wrapped her arms tightly around her wife and buried her face in her soft gummy hair, inhaling the comforting scent of strawberries and sugar deeply.

"Matilda's dead." she whispered after a moment, still too far in shock to try to cushion the blow.

"Tilda's-? How?"

"Dunno. I just felt it in my head, I felt the connection snap. It was agony."

Bonnie tightened her grip around the other woman and let a shudder of grief run through her for the sweet and mischievous woman that had disappeared as abruptly as she'd arrived. Zoe would be crushed, she knew. Zoe would be wandering aimlessly, completely bereft, or else still in danger herself.

"I should get back, the kids, you know." Jake mumbled awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah sure. Tell Lady I'm sorry I couldn't stay."

"Thank you for bringing her home, Jake." Bonnie said, placing a swift kiss on his cheek, almost smiling at him despite the obvious friction that still lingered between them. That was some kind of tiny silver lining at least, Marcy thought.

He nodded and hugged them both before his legs stretched a hundred metres long again and he strode off into the night.

"Are you ok?" Bonnie asked her wife quietly when they were alone.

"No. Really, _really_ not ok. So far from ok I feel like I could be sick. But I can pretend if you need me to." Marcy replied just as quietly.

"Oh love, you don't need to pretend with me. Do you just want to go to bed?"

"No, we should tell Stefan and the other kids. They'd want to know."

They entered the palace together, Marceline walking again, remembering other times she'd foregone flying to for the feel of that same solid ground against her boots. Her feet had slapped angrily on the tiles while Zoe and Tilda floated behind her, braiding Billy's hair and giggling silently to each other. That had been the first day they'd come here, the first time she'd seen them in centuries. And she'd never see them together again, she realised. They'd never giggle again. Never smile, never laugh or tell their awful ancient jokes again, never shift into their kitten forms and go hunting for mice just for fun again-

Her cheeks were wet. Marceline, who hated crying more than almost anything else in the world, was quietly sobbing because her friend was dead. She'd lost plenty of people before, not all of them painlessly at a grand old age surrounded by their loved ones. But Matilda... she'd never thought anything could hurt the mercurial redhead. She was far too canny, too resourceful. But then she hadn't been, in the end. Something had gone badly wrong and now she was dead.

"I'll get Phoebe." Bonnie murmured at the top of the stairs, and she hurried off down a side corridor towards their daughter's bedroom. Marceline stared after her for a second, lost and still numb from shock, before she slowly turned and floated up into the air again and silently drifted towards the only other occupied bedroom in the royal family's wing of the palace.

She knocked on the door but got no reply; that wasn't unusual though. He was probably asleep, or more likely doing something disgusting in the shower like most seventeen year old boys did. She strained her ears but couldn't pick out the sound of running water or snoring. Frowning, Marceline reached for the door handle.

"Finn? Can I come in?" she asked quietly through the small crack she'd let the door slide open, not wanting to catch him at something she really didn't want to know about. But there was still no reply and the room was dark. She pushed the door open fully and stared about the silent bedroom, a whole new chasm of fear opening in the pit of her stomach.

The room was in full darkness and completely deserted. Her youngest son's windows were flung wide open and a thin rope ladder hung from the balcony. Finn was nowhere to be seen. For a few appalling and dizzying moments her brain insisted it was just like that night sixteen years ago all over again, seeing the empty nursery for herself and the whole world tilting with horror because her infant sons had been snatched by a madman. If her heart had still been beating Marceline would have had palpitations.

But soon common sense reasserted itself; there was the replica axe Finn had insisted on having made, almost identical to her own save for the lack of frets and bass strings. It hung innocently over his empty bed exactly where he always kept it, razor sharp edges gleaming battle ready in the yellow light flooding in from the hall. There was no sign of a struggle and no scent trail in the air; he'd covered his tracks just in case she came looking for him. At least this time he seemed to have left voluntarily. Marceline sank to the floor and let her tears fall, she had no more energy to fight them.

...

"I gotta go home." Finn mumbled past his grin, still floppy and breathless from euphoria.

"Those are the first words out of your lips? If you weren't so hunky I'd be offended. Not yet. Stay a bit longer?"

He let his mouth be claimed by cold lips and his eyes flutter closed as the icy weight in his arms shifted, moving slowly with deliberate friction against his still sensitive body.

"Baby, I really have to go. My Mom'll be looking for me."

"Mommy's boy." Victoria teased with a gentle sigh. "Sometimes I think you love her more than you love me."

He could have denied it but Finn just grinned at her and let her grind against him a little more.

"Y'think I let my Mom do this with me, mm? That's really messed up. Look down for a second then ask me again who I love more."

She squealed adorably when she saw when her actions had stirred in him. No doubt about how much he loved her at least.

It was thirty more blissful breathless minutes before he finally took his leave, grinning smugly and posing shirtless in the mouth of her cave because he knew she went crazy for the way the moonlight rippled across his muscles. Victoria sighed and stretched and pouted at him and despite his lassitude a very insistent part of him wanted to stay all night but he hadn't been lying when he said he'd be missed. The last thing either of them wanted was vengeful parents of any variety tracking them to their secret cave and interrupting mid-coitus. Ice King loved Finn, he was glad Victoria had such a nice boyfriend, but he might draw the line at catching them naked and writhing against each other.

With one last flash of his lady-killer smile Finn took off into the night. He jogged carefully along the frozen path that lead from their mountain and down to where his borrowed steed waited. With a slide and jump down the last frozen steps he let out a whoop and landed on The Morrow's back.

"Home, boy! And quit glaring at me, Mama won't have missed us at all."

The flight home was leisurely and in its own way just as thrilling as the stolen moments with Victoria had been; ever since he could remember Finn had been utterly addicted to flying. His earliest memory involved swooping with his Mom up the sheer drop of a waterfall and watching her skim her hands into the water to pluck out a salmon in mid leap, holding it up for him to inspect for a second before she dropped it back into the river above its insurmountable obstacle. Flying was everything that was right with the world, flying meant nothing could touch him and he was invincible. Just like his mighty eagle soaring above the heads of mere mortals. It was the same way he felt when Victoria lay back and pulled him forwards onto her and met his lips with eager, hungry kisses.

He grinned again, delighting in the cool whip of speeding wind around his still shirtless chest. Long before they arrived home he let out another whoop of pure ecstasy, legs locked tight around the great eagle's neck and arms reaching out into the night air as though he was soaring on his own.

Finn landed almost silently on the ramparts of the palace, well away from where the bumbling Banana Guards were changing their rotation. Even if they had caught him he'd just wink and tell them he was on Official Royal Business. Not that he ever had any official business to take care of, his mothers didn't trust him to even carry the flag on holidays, but he was the youngest prince after all and the Banana Guards were pretty dumb.

The Morrow huffed at him and took off for his perch the instant Finn slithered to the ground but he didn't care, he jogged along the walls until he came to the thin grey rope ladder underneath his window. At a distance it was invisible against the sugary pink wall of his home, close-to he still had to scan the gloom for a moment before he spied it.

"Perfect crime." he muttered to himself as he hauled himself up over the balcony railing and landing quietly.

"Really, you think? Pretty sure you've been found out."

He froze, one hand reaching towards the open door to his bedroom. Nobody was there; he stared around into the darkness. Nobody was especially sitting invisible on the railing. There was a patch of nothingness right by where the rope ladder let up that his brain insisted was somehow even more empty than the surrounding nothing. Finn hung his head in defeat. He knew his Mom's magic, he'd seen her slide out of existence plenty of times since he was a baby.

Suddenly the nothingness was full of angry green eyes ringed in red and long black hair that shifted restlessly despite the lack of wind. Oh man, she was really mad at him. His temper flared at the exact same moment as his guilt reflex. He was an _adult_ , he could sneak out at night if he wanted. They both stared speaking angrily at the same time.

"Mom, look, I can explain-"

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been? How scared? I had no idea where you were-"

"-didn't mean to leave without telling you where I was going!"

"-made your poor Mama go to bed with one of her anxiety migraines and you caused it-"

"-out with Jake and I forgot the time-"

"-after what happened when you were a baby and the comet and everything, we thought you'd be more careful-"

"-besides I'm an adult now and-"

"YOU ARE NOT AN ADULT, YOU ARE AN IRRESPONSIBLE CHILD, FINN!"

That shut him up. He stared at her while the echoes of her yell reverberated around the courtyard below for everyone to hear; the whole Kingdom knew his Mom had just screamed at him. Traitorous tears prickled the corners of his eyes as all his bravado melted. She might get mad, she might hiss and her gaze might flash red, she might ground him and tell him she was disappointed in him, guilt trip him into good behaviour. But she never yelled at him, she never raised her voice and she never fucking _cried_ -

"Mom? What's wrong?" he whispered, horrified.

"I came to find you to tell you that your Aunt Matilda is dead." she choked out, turning her face away so he couldn't see the awful agony he knew that news had caused her.

He was across the balcony in two steps, clinging on to his Mom for dear life and sobbing into her shoulder. Aunt Matilda had helped raise him, she'd taught him to fish and track rabbits, she'd been the one who'd trained him and sparred with him when he'd had a brief interest in being a ninja. She'd been a constant in his life since before he could remember, she'd even helped save his life when he was only a baby. She was his Guardian, the person he'd turned to when he had embarrassing personal problems that he didn't want to tell his mothers about. It just wasn't possible that she was dead.

"How?" he managed after a moment. His voice wavered and cracked like it was breaking again, making him feel so much younger than his seventeen years. All his bluff about being an adult felt so ridiculous now; he was a bereaved child cuddling his Mom and sobbing because his favourite Aunt was dead. Marceline hugged him back tightly, he could feel her anger melting away under the weight of grief that cloaked them both.

"I don't know, darling. I felt the moment she passed, I felt the Sire link break. It... hurt. Aunt Zoe's coming back, I can feel her getting steadily closer. She's still a long way off though. She'll be able to tell us more when she gets here."

He nodded wordlessly, still too stunned to think much.

 _Aunt Matilda's dead._

It echoed around his head like a bad joke as they stood crying together. Eventually Marceline pulled back and looked him in the eye. She had to tilt her head slightly upwards to do that if she was on the ground these days. Maybe he'd been right, maybe he was getting close to being an adult. She wrinkled her nose as his fusty scent finally registered. Maybe not.

"Come on, you should let your Mama know you're back. And think of a better excuse than "out with Jake" because I was just at Jake's place and I know you weren't there. But maybe not as honest as "doing something entirely inappropriate with Victoria' because you know she wouldn't approve of you seeing that girl. And put your damn shirt back on, Finn."

He smiled sheepishly, already wiping those embarrassing tears away from his face.

"Victoria's not bad, Mom. She's really nice. Mama would like her if she just gave her a chance."

"Yeah she's a peach, shame about her crazy dad. You know it's not me who disapproves, Finn. You Mama has good reasons for wanting you to do better."

...

Somehow he'd always been able to smell it in the air when his Mama was sick. It was something that hung heavily in the aura of his parents' bedroom, something about the permanently drawn curtains and the various medicines and tonics that crowded her nightstand. It never made it any easier to hear her thin, fragile voice calling for him from the darkness though, it took him right back to his childhood. He was four years old again, snuggling into her too-warm side and telling her quietly about all the things Miss Trunks had taught them that day, wondering why her skin always felt paper thin when she'd been sick for a while and not learning until much later that it was an effect of dehydration because she struggled to keep even water down at first. Or he was eight and his Mom was telling him off for making too much noise outside her window while he pretended he didn't hear Mama violently throwing up in the bathroom and weakly calling for her wife to help her back to bed. He was thirteen and awkwardly apologising to his friends because he didn't want to go to the slumber party, not when his Mama was sick again. She might need him or Mom might need him, he didn't want to go anywhere in case something happened to her.

"Mama?"

"...Finn. Where were you?"

He winced at how tired and thin her voice sounded. He'd really screwed up this time, he'd deserved Mom yelling at him. She hated Mama being sick every bit as much as he did.

"I'm so sorry, Mama. I borrowed The Morrow and went flying. I'm really sorry." he bowed his head in shame and shuffled closer to the dark bed.

"...told you not to do that."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Not sorry enough to stop doing it. But I'm glad you're safe. Honey, your Aunt-"

"I know, Mom told me." he interrupted quickly, not wanting to hear those terrible words spoken aloud again. Finn came forward and carefully took a seat on the unoccupied side of the bed. He threaded his hand into his Mama's and rested his other cool palm against her brow.

"Thanks Finn. You know we only get angry because we're scared for you."

"I know. You heard Mom yelling at me?"

"...everyone did."

They sat in silence for long minutes, each racking their brain to think of what to say to the other. Finally Bonnie broke the silence.

"Can you help me sit up?"

Gently, without jostling her throbbing head, he helped her sit forward and slid a couple of cushions in behind her back so she could rest comfortably. Her hands trembled alarmingly when she reached for the glass of water his Mom had left by the bed and he darted out and grabbed it for her, raising it carefully to her lips so she could sip at it carefully. Too much and she'd be staggering to the bathroom to throw up again; he knew how to look after her through a migraine attack.

"Thanks." she mumbled after a couple of sips.

They lapsed back into silence.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"There's ice in your hair. You shouldn't take Morrow up too high, he's old now."

"Sorry, Mama."


	2. Chapter 2

**The chapters don't have names, but if they did this one would be In At The Deep End. Plot! Intrigue! There's no warm up with this story, we're just getting down to business. Plot! Intrigue! Twists! Although honestly I feel like you should probably have seen the twist in this particular chapter coming.**

 **To the wonderful people who reviewed the first chapter, thank you so much! Your support makes this whole writing experience just so much more rewarding. And it's great to know what people liked and where people think it's gonna go. I love you guys!**

 **Content Warning: feels, bad language, illness, prophecy.**

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"It isn't cool to corner someone when they're sick, Jake. What do you want?"

He just shrugged and stood his ground. Finn frowned harder at him through the half opened door.

"I just wanna see how she is."

"She's ill. Same old migraine ill, I'm looking after her and I'm doing fine on my own. And she's not desperate to see you, so you can just about-turn and march yourself back out of our home. I told the Banana Morons not to let you in anyways."

"Actually Peppermint Butler let me in. I came to see how Mom was, too. She called me and said Mama was ill, she told me to come straight up for a visit."

Finn continued to stare hard at him. Jake clenched his fists but he reminded himself that he loved his little brother, he really did, and Finn was just doing what he thought was best. Just that he was being an idiot about it and anyway punching him in the mouth wasn't going to make that any better even if it would help Jake feel a bit calmer. But it was too hard to stop himself from replying angrily, even if he did manage to keep his tone low so he didn't disturb their Mama any further.

"Look, why are you being such a dick about it? What do you want me to do, man? Apologise for growing up and moving out and wanting to live with my wife and kids? I'm not gonna do that. I'm sorry if it upsets Mama but as nice as it is here I don't want to live in this palace forever and Lady had plenty good reasons for not choosing to live here either, like being a _diplomat_ and not wanted to take sides too much with any kingdom. But I do want to visit my mother when she's sick and we've all just had an unexpected bereavement and, and come on dude! I'm not trying to hurt her, you don't need to stand there like you're fucking guarding her!"

Finn scowled harder and drew in a sharp breath to argue but he was cut off by a quiet voice calling from the dim room behind him.

"Finn? Please let you brother in."

He stood back from the bedroom door reluctantly, letting Jake into his mothers' room. Bonnie was sitting up in bed and looking a bit stronger than she had the night before when the migraine had started but she was still drowsy and weak. Phoebe was sitting on the bed with her, a thick ancient looking book open across her lap. She'd been reading quietly to her mother when Jake had knocked. His sister looked up and offered him a bright smile when he entered.

"Hey there Firefly." he murmured, stretching an arm across and ruffling the cool blue flames sticking up from her head. She ducked and batted his paw away.

"Yo, Dogbreath. How are all the squishy little mutant babies?" she replied, grinning at him mischievously.

"Fine, they're fine. Getting bigger by the hour. Hey, Mama." he added, coming forward and shuffling his feet awkwardly, suddenly unsure if coming up the palace was a good idea or not. But she smiled at him too and lifted her arms for a hug. It pulled a reluctant grin onto his face.

"Hello Jakey. Oh and you brought flowers, you sweet thing. I'm glad you came."

"Told you I wouldn't stay away for long." he mumbled into her ear as he leaned into the hug, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know you did sweetie." Bonnie sighed in return.

And despite the argument and his storming off and everything else it was just the same as it always had been. He deposited the bouquet on the empty nightstand on his Mom's side of the bed and leaned more into the hug. Mama was reflexively stroking his ears and Jake felt just like a small kid again, he'd even shrunk down a bit without thinking and he was sitting on her lap like he was still a puppy. Phoebe snorted and went back to browsing through her book and Finn crossed his arms and frowned some more. Jake stuck his tongue out at him when Mama wasn't looking and Finn scowled harder.

"You know I never wanted to make you upset." he said quietly to his mother after a few seconds.

"Mhm. And you know I just want you to be happy, and especially safe." she replied in a frail voice.

He nodded a little sadly. He'd have been much happier if his moving out hadn't caused an argument, Jake hated conflict.

"Finn. Come on, buttface. You promised to help me find that book in the library." Phoebe announced suddenly, shutting her book, standing up and grabbing her little brother's shoulder. He scowled at her too and cast another uncertain look at his brother but allowed himself to be towed from their parents' bedroom. Once they were outside and the door firmly closed Phoebe fixed him with her deadliest glare, the one she'd learned from Mama when the nobles were being argumentative.

"Don't you dare interrupt them, Finn. They're making up, ok? And just because you've enjoyed being the only prince in the palace is no reason to be an ass to Jake, alright? He had a choice, he chose Lady and the kids. We're _family_ , we support our family members no matter what. Like I support you sleeping with that ice bitch if I have to despite the fact that she's a total _bitch_ , and I'll support you if and when Mama throws a fit about it. Because we're sister and brother and that's just what we do for each other. Alright? And geez, tone down the testosterone. You don't have to square up like you're about to pummel him into the ground just because he brought Mama some flowers, you dinkus. She's not gonna stop loving you too just because Jake's talking to her again."

Finn shuffled uncomfortably; he didn't like being at odds with his brother but he also didn't like anything that might make his Mama's sickness worse. If anyone upset her they'd have to answer to Finn. Jake might be the elder brother but Finn was sure he could take him in a fair fight. Phoebe just continued glaring up at him. After a second he sighed and ran a hand through his long blonde hair, hanging loose today because he'd been too lazy to braid it.

"Fine, ok. I do support him. I just don't want anyone to be upset, especially when Mama's ill with her migraines and Mom's grieving for Aunt Tilda. And if he comes here when Mama's sick and he makes her feel worse I'll punch him right on the nose, don't even try to stop me. And don't call Victoria a bitch, you'd like her if you just gave her a chance."

Phoebe snorted at that.

"A chance to do what? Throw snowballs at me again? It's still not funny, Finn! It really hurt!"

He just smiled sweetly and stuck his tongue out, unconsciously mirroring his big brother just a minute ago. Phoebe and Victoria made no secret of their dislike for each other.

"It was pretty funny from where I was standing. Anyway that was ages ago, if you're gonna judge people for stuff they did when they were just kids then I have to insist that you stop talking to that weirdo pervert LSP. You know she never gave my socks back after that time you guys raided my bedroom."

He ducked her hand when she went to pull his hair and allowed himself to be lead off to the library with just a quick backward glance at the bedroom door; apparently Phoebe hadn't been joking about finding some boring old book or other to look at because Grod forbid she run out of boring old books. Finn rolled his eyes, wondering why every female in his immediate family was crazy about reading. At least Jake was talking to them again, it had been kinda lonely being the only guy around. He'd never admit it but sometimes Finn wondered if he was really up to being the prince who suddenly had expectations on him, the son who was required to be responsible and behave himself. It was a jarring discovery that Jake wasn't just naturally in love with being a suck up and a good boy, that his parents had subtly different expectations of him because he was older. Maybe he'd been too quick to judge, or maybe Jake had screwed the whole family and changed stuff when he'd promised not to. A small part of Finn still remembered his brother promising him faithfully on the morning of his wedding and he'd still left, still gone away just like he'd said he wouldn't. But if Mama could do it then maybe he could forgive his big brother for picking his wife over them too; if someone asked him to choose between his family or Victoria he didn't know what he'd do.

Finn sighed and followed his impatient sister, wondering how long he could keep seeing his girlfriend without causing a similar argument with his Mama when she found out and whether he'd find himself banished or disowned. Probably not, but he could never quite predict his Mama's temper the way his sister could so easily.

...

 _Snow, again. She was so sick of nightmares where the snow drifted silently around her. After all those years she still hadn't ever managed to completely shake her fear of blizzards, or the darkness. Control the fear yes, but never completely escape from it._

 _Bonnibel looked up into the night and saw a thick cloud of whiteness swirling out of the dark sky above her. It seemed... more real than her dreams had been for a very long time. Real and eerie. The frigid night air burned against her throat when she took a shaky breath and when she exhaled there was a puff of steam, too realistic for just a regular dream. Bonnie felt a thrill of fresh fear run through her on top of her irrational terror of the ice and the dark._

 _"I'm not afraid of you." she told the snow firmly as it drifted high around her legs. That was a lie but it made her feel just a bit braver, even if her voice wavered and the snow couldn't hear her. She wrapped her arms around her chest; it was so cold and she was apparently wearing nothing but a thin nightdress. She knew, in that certain and illogical way that happens in dreams, that she had to go to the Ice Fort. Someone was waiting for her there, she couldn't be too late._

 _And of course Ice King's lounge was deserted; she had to go deeper into the caverns below. She didn't remember the walk up the mountain but then it was a dream and she supposed it wasn't important. It was silent as the grave in the lounge and his furniture seemed weirdly backlit, stiff and angular when she stared at it curiously like stage props made from cardboard. She wanted to investigate but an invisible force was drawing her forward and down the staircase she'd last walked sixteen years before in ice manacles and finally into the room where she'd been forced to create Victoria. It was empty now, she couldn't even see the storage boxes of assorted papers collected over the centuries or the trashed lab equipment Marceline had told her was still there on the one occasion she'd been back._

 _Bonnie stared around but Ice King wasn't there, it was Simon who was waiting for her. He was sitting in the middle of the floor with a thick scarf wound around his neck looking younger and clean shaven like he did in the couple of old grainy photos her wife still kept. He was even younger than he had been when he'd met Marceline, exactly as her had been the day he found the crown. But pale, he was so pale. His lips were turning blue and Bonnie wondered if it was from the cold, or-_

 _"Take care of my girls." he gasped to the air, to someone she couldn't see. She stared around but there was nobody else there. Simon glanced down and smiled, like he'd just noticed something that made him glad for that invisible someone. "I'm sorry...for everything... I... remember..."_

 _And then he disappeared, vanished like he'd never existed. Bonnie blinked at the empty space where Simon had been sitting. That was... unexpected. She shivered and rubbed her arms against the icy air, it was even colder in the depths of the mountain than in the lounge._

 _She turned, intent on going back out of the cavern and maybe managing to turn it back into a regular dream, something innocent or naughty or anything at all that wasn't another creepy and weirdly lucid nightmare. But her path was blocked by a pale woman in the doorway who hadn't been there a moment before, half in shadow and staring at her intently._

 _She was nobody Bonnibel had ever seen before, that was certain. Deathly pale, and hovering a few inches above the floor. A vampire, then. Despite not being able to see her bite scars Bonnie would recognise a vampire from a mile away. The stranger was wearing a crown, a silver crown with a deep red gem set into the single low point that rose from its middle. Hadn't Marcy once told her she'd had a crown that was stolen long before she'd come to the Candy Kingdom? Yes, Bonnie was almost completely certain that she remembered it from back in the hazy past when she'd first met Zoe and Matilda. And it had been silver with a deep red gem, her wife had liked that crown._

 _The woman stared at her and she stared back, trying to take in every aspect of her appearance. She was femininely curvy with long light brown hair that flowed to her waist, her skin was greyish white and the deep hazel eyes that stared out from beneath her crown were ringed in a vivid red around the pupils. She had a round face that reminded Bonnibel of something she couldn't quite place, solemn and ageless. But when she smiled Bonnie realised it was more like a primitive predator of some kind, something ancient and remorseless, something that didn't know the meaning of empathy._

 _"Pretty Pretty. Just a deep pool of terror, aren't you? And yes, so very pretty." the woman murmured, and she smiled softly without a touch of humour. Shadows shifted behind her, other shapes restless in the dark corridor. So many of them, so many more than anyone had realised._

 _"No, Phoebe!"_

 _Someone had yelled it and Bonnie was surprised to discover it was her. But Phoebe wasn't there. Was she? It was all just a confusing swirl now; the woman was right because she was just a deep pool of terror. Sudden desperate fear clawed at her, panic climbing up her throat like she'd swallowed something live._

 _Without warning the woman and the Ice Fort and everything else melted away into a sudden blaze of brilliant brightness and the cold was replaced with unbearable heat. It was like standing inside a forest fire; everywhere she looked the world blazed. Bonnie looked down in horror at her body. She was literally melting from the intensity of the fire._

 _"Oh man- your Majesty, I'm so sorry for your loss. But you really gotta wake up."_

 _Oh, the Cosmic Owl-_

But not for long. The dream dissolved around her as he clapped his wings and Bonnie opened her eyes to the evening light filtering through the special sun proof glass she'd installed in all the windows in the palace years ago. She was alone, she could hear Finn singing badly outside in the gardens and a bright laugh that meant Phoebe was out there with him. Probably he'd dragged her outside in retaliation for her making him go to the library while Jake visited.

Wait. _Phoebe._

She frowned up at the ceiling, trying to remember. She'd had a dream. There was a woman? A vampire. And it was cold, and then hot. And had Phoebe been there?

No? Maybe. But she suddenly knew with deathly certainly that the Cosmic Owl had. Oh Grod, _no._

In a blind panic Bonnibel sat bolt upright and made to swing herself out of bed but her migraine still hadn't completely disappeared and her legs were weak from not being used for hours. They collapsed under her and she sprawled onto the rug with her head pounding as an agonised moan escaped her lips. Nausea rolled through her and Bonnie struggled to her knees, holding her stomach and trying to stumble towards the bathroom before it overcame her completely. She made it, just.

When she was finished throwing up the tiny bit of water she'd managed to keep down that day cool hands were holding her hair back from her face and a glass of fresh water was pressed into her hands to rinse her mouth with.

"Where's the fire? You know better than to throw yourself out of bed when you're sick, babe." Marceline murmured, slipping her arms around Bonnie's trembling shoulders and helping her back across to sit on the edge of the mattress.

"I was coming to find you! I had a Cosmic Owl dream, a bad one." Bonnie gasped, still feeling somewhat winded from falling and then her sickness. Marceline's shoulders tensed and she stared at her wife.

"A- you're certain?"

Bonnie nodded.

"But I don't remember it all. Phoebe was there, and I think I was in the Ice Fort. And there was a vampire I didn't recognise." she said in a rush, hands clasped tightly around her wife's. "I don't think she was friendly. She said... something about me being full of fear."

If possible Marceline's face lost even more of its colour.

"Fear. She said you were full of fear? Stay right here, I'm going to go get Stefan."

And she sped out of the room, leaving Bonnie alone with her throbbing head and churning panic.

...

It must have been late because suddenly the sun had vanished behind the treetops and the last daylight was bleeding out of the sky, but for the life of her she couldn't have said how they'd spent the day. It was all a hazy blur. Hiding, fleeing, searching for something to eat, it was difficult to be certain. Her brain felt weirdly heavy and thick like it was full of damp cotton.

As the light finally died they came upon an empty shack on the edge of the shore, no more than an old run down beach hut really but still serviceable at least for the short while they needed it for. Strong arms lowered her to the filthy narrow bed and tucked a tattered blanket around her aching shoulders.

"Babe? Are you awake?"

"Mm."

"I'm going to find you something to eat, ok? And try to find a way across the water. Just stay here, whatever happens don't come find me. I'll be coming back for you. You understand?"

"...kay."

"I love you so much."

"Love you too."

Cool lips brushed against her burning forehead and then she was alone. She tried to get comfortable as the long minutes ticked by but couldn't find a position that was pain free; on her side her swollen abdomen ached fiercely and on her back it was too hard to breathe.

The breathlessness frightened her more than anything else. It felt like her lungs were half full of liquid, like she was slowly drowning in her own blood. Her blood was going to kill her one way or another; she was no doctor but she knew that much. And there was magic mixing with the blood and that was killing her too or maybe it was the absence of magic. It was poisoning her body slowly. At least the progress of her disease seemed slow but she was coming to realise that she'd actually have preferred to die quickly instead of lingering there in pain. She shivered in the dark and let the fear that had been building all day consume her, too worn down to hold it back.

She coughed and tasted more blood in the back of her throat, her own but still the first she'd known in longer than she could now remember. It was foul; too metallic and too salty. It made her want to vomit but she was scared that if she did then she'd only bring up more of that tainted redness and that would be worse.

The sun must have fully set while she was trying to breathe slowly and calm her nausea because when she opened her eyes again the shack was completely dark. She strained against the blackness but couldn't see more than a couple of shadows. The blanket hung across the tiny window blocked out most everything except for a couple of spots of pale moonlight that were too faint for her to see by. That was terrifying, too. Anything could be out there in the night. She shivered violently and wished she had a fire despite the fever that still ran high through her body. Or some water, anything to ease the foul tang of blood and bile in the back of her throat.

She was dehydrated and she tried to firmly tell herself she couldn't afford to lose any more fluids but it didn't stop the fat tears splashing down her face. She was alone, she was scared and in so much pain. And perhaps she was going to die right there in that shack on the seashore waiting for someone who might not come back for her if they were discovered. If they were caught then at least she'd get her swift death.

The cramped room stank of sickness and fear; she might have lost a lot of her abilities but somehow she could still smell things with superhuman accuracy. Like death, she could smell the shadow of death lurking around in the corners of the shack just waiting for her to give up and accept her fate. Or maybe it was just her fevered imagination. She wasn't entirely certain if she was losing her mind. Her stomach made a weird growl and a dull pain began to grind through her body, radiating out from her abdomen. She grit her teeth and tried to ignore it but the ache was persistent and growing. It was a hot wave of churning nausea washing up through her stomach and chest until it seized her whole body. Her stomach rolled again and again and the wave of nausea blazed tightly right up her throat. The strength of it forced her forwards, pitching her off the low bed onto hands and knees as the darkness spun and whirled around her. She clutched her sides urgently and squeezed her eyes shut against the vertigo. For a bewildering few moments everything was blank confusion and then she was lying curled on her side on the ground with no idea how she'd gotten there.

She stayed as still as possible, breathing shallowly through her nose while the nausea slowly passed and the world began to spin more slowly. Her face was wet and her mouth burned. With an awful flush she realised she'd vomited without even feeling it.

She struggled up to her knees and tried to squint through the darkness at the damp patch in front of her. The edges of the foul puddle only just gleamed in the weak light. She tried to ignore the nausea that threatened to overcome her again; did the warm mess of thick liquid in the back of her mouth taste like blood? She wasn't sure. Mostly it tasted like sickness and burning and thinking about it made her want to throw up again. Grod she'd do anything for a glass of water. She swiped a hand over her face reflexively as something splashed against her top lip. It felt slick and lukewarm, she looked down despite the blackness and faintly registered that her hand was covered in something dark and sticky. Definitely blood this time. The sharp coppery scent assaulted her nose and sent her reeling backwards, back up against the rickety wooden bedstead.

"Oh." she said faintly to nobody in particular. "Another nosebleed."

Time passed and she'd fallen into a light doze, didn't even hear when the shack door opened again. She almost jumped out of her skin when cold hands touched her face but it was her companion. She sighed, relieved at not being alone anymore.

"Come on babe, I found us a boat. We're going home."

It took a while for those words to penetrate her brain but when they did she grinned in the darkness, her first real smile in too long. Zoe always looked after her. Zoe would take her home, to their queen. And Marceline would make her better, she wouldn't let her die like this. Matilda let her eyes drift closed again as Zoe lifted her out of the cabin and down to the shore to the waiting boat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three, onwards with plot! I'm so glad people seem to be enjoying this so far, I've really enjoyed writing it too. Thanks to all of my reviewers so far, you guys rock! A small headsup, as ever this story is chock full of OCs and there's one here too, so, sorry? Anyway, I hope you don't mind them.**

 **I'm aware I owe you the last chapter of Desperate Measures and some other one shots, I'm sorry I've been kinda away recently. Been working on a lot of stuff that's almost ready to post now so there's gonna be a flurry of new stories soon. Enjoy!**

 **Content Warning: plot, jealousy, foul language.**

* * *

When Stefan arrived he bowed briefly and immediately let the shields on his telepathy slide, allowing the queen's mind to intrude into his own much more forcefully than he normally would. He'd felt Marceline's panic before she'd woken him and he could hear the name she whispered in terror in the back of her own mind, over and over like a dark chant running beneath her thoughts.

What first hit him when the barriers were removed was a wall of agonising mental white noise; that was the migraine still raging like a storm in the back of her Majesty's thoughts, overlaying everything with a hiss of throbbing pain and heat. Her memories swirled around the dream like a flock of hazy birds. Their edges brushed his mind and he was left with fleeting impressions of sensations and deep terror but try as he might Stefan couldn't get a good read on the fine details. It was pushed too deeply into the thick fog of her subconscious mind.

"I can't find more than a vague outline." he told Marceline regretfully. He knew before she opened her mouth that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Try harder! I need to fucking know what we're dealing with!" she snarled back at him. Stefan just sighed and shook his head.

"If I go any deeper I risk permanently damaging her, Marcy. She's already suffered a brain injury and a lot of concussions over the years, do you want me to fry your wife's mind completely?"

Bubblegum just stared up at him, still so frail and weak from her illness.

"I have to know, too. Stefan, it was about my daughter. I'll risk anything to keep her safe." she said quietly.

"There's another way. We can use magic-" he ignored the way she rolled her eyes, she still refused to believe it was anything more than badly explained science, "-enter your memories as magical constructs and view the dream directly from your subconscious."

Marceline slid her arms briefly around her wife's slender shoulders and gently hugged her, resting cool lips against her brow. The anger and panic hadn't receded from her thoughts at all but she was doing an excellent job of keeping it hidden for her wife's sake. Fear of losing herself to rage kept her thoughts under rigid control and she was as soft as a whisper when she addressed the queen.

"I know you think magic is just a load of crap, but it's the best chance we have. Please, babe. Will you let us try?"

The queen nodded carefully, her mind lacing with pain even at that small movement.

"Anything if it'll help. I'm not stupid enough to ignore a Cosmic Owl dream." she replied softly.

With a swift nod Marceline straightened in the air and flew back out into the hall, to find Peppermint Butler and arrange the necessary magic. Stefan was left with the queen, who wrapped her arms around herself and set her teeth against the immense throbbing in her head.

"Majesty, let me ease some of your suffering." Stefan murmured, taking her hand gently.

She was reluctant, he didn't need to be a telepath to know that, but after a moment's indecision she gave her mental consent, knowing he would hear her. He let his shields down again and instead of passively letting her thoughts wash across his mind he shaped his magic into a dart, sliding into her mind and straight through the familiar mental landscape to the tangled twist of sharp raw thorns that represented her brain injury. It pulsed like a heart, resisting him, but Stefan had succeeded in suppressing it on a number of occasions in the past and he was hopeful he could do the same thing again. It was not a permanent solution, nothing could remove the physical damage Ice King's club had caused to an already fragile brain. But he could calm the intense pain for long enough that the queen could master her anxiety and remove the source of the migraine attack's power.

With a concentration so deep he forgot to breathe or move for long minutes Stefan tried again and again to wrap his magic around the tangle of mental thorns but no matter what angle he attacked from they just grew thicker and bigger, twisting away from him. Eventually he stopped and retreated a little, the better to think.

"I can take it away for a while but I can't suppress it completely." he admitted.

"I can't ask you to do that, Stefan. You've done so much for me already." she replied with a shaken voice. He could feel how the pain was still crippling her, it grew more intense the more she brooded on her prophetic dream. He simply smiled at her gently, knowing that his old friend would understand and forgive him.

With a mental battle cry he plunged his own consciousness into the pulsing thicket of thorns, feeling the agony release its claws from her Majesty's mind and sink them into his own instead. His magic was taking her pain and making it his, taking hold of it at the source before it could flood her mind and instead siphoning it directly into him.

Immediately his stomach roiled angrily as a tide of nausea burned through him and he was almost blinded in his left eye, swirls of flashing lights danced crazily in front of his vision. The pain was like some huge heavy object repeatedly slamming into the side of his skull, but from the inside, like something was desperately trying to break out of his head. A groan of pain almost escaped his lips before he bit it back but her soft rose coloured eyes were scanning his face intently, looking for any sign that he had taken more of her suffering than he could manage, and he smiled warmly despite the agony.

"You didn't have to do that, I could have managed." the queen told him with a slight cast of guilt to her thoughts.

"Wanted to. You've suffered enough. I serve." he replied between shallow breaths.

….

Stefan kept her pain in his own mind until Peppermint Butler and Marceline arrived, trailed by the two royal children still living at the Candy palace.

"Mama?" Phoebe asked quietly, coming forward and sitting close to her mother. "What's going on?"

"I had a dream, sweetie. A bad one, one that I'm scared might come true. I need Stefan and your Mom to enter my memories and see for themselves. I don't remember all of it."

Finn glowered around the room at everyone, more than anything he hated not being able to help when his mothers needed him. Marceline patted his arm reassuringly. She was distantly pleased she'd raised such a strong, protective boy. He hadn't always been a credit to them but she was seeing more and more signs of Finn maturing into manhood recently. His disappearing act the night before notwithstanding, he was definitely beginning to settle into the kind of man she was proud to call her son.

"It's probably a false alarm, son. No need to worry. But your uncle Stefan knows what he's doing and we'll be able to see for ourselves soon enough. Ok? You don't really need to be here if you'd rather go and do something else."

He shook his head, tensing up at the suggestion.

"No, I'm staying right here. If something happens I need to be around." Finn replied seriously. She nodded and shot him a swift smile.

"Such a good boy. OK, we're ready. Bon? Peppermint wants to give you some powder to make you sleep, it'll make it easier for us to find our way into your subconscious. And it'll stop you feeling the pain again when Stefan removes his influence from your mind." Marceline said, turning back to her wife.

Bonnie frowned at her but nodded with a small sigh.

"I hate this. I hate being ill, I hate not knowing what my dream was or if it was important." she replied softly, gazing out of the window.

"I know, babe."

Peppermint Butler stepped forward and bowed, holding out a handful of thick greyish sand that would work on the eyes of anyone it came into contact with. She wrinkled her nose but allowed him to blow a small amount into her face before lying back on the pillows, eyes already beginning to feel heavy.

"Don't be mad… if it's… a… a…"

"I'm hoping it is a false alarm, babe." Marceline told her sleeping wife quietly, curling cool fingers around her limp hand.

...

 _"_ _Her memories are housed in the palace?"_

 _"_ _It's just a mental construct, a physical representation of her memories. It's not a literal palace in her mind, Marce."_

 _"_ _Yeah, I'd figured that out for myself thanks."_

 _Marceline and Stefan stared around themselves. They'd arrived in the hallway leading from the main entrance hall to the grand staircase. It both was and was not the Candy palace, the layout was the same but everything was bigger, grander. Some of the doorways didn't appear to exist in Bonnibel's memory palace and some were in the wrong place. The staircase didn't end where Marceline's memory insisted it should, it just lead up and up past the main tower and the family's private suites._

 _"_ _Do we start down here?" Stefan asked, indicating a door not far in front of them. There were more doors leading backwards towards the main entrance but they'd arrived at the bottom of the staircase._

 _"_ _I… suppose so?"_

 _Marceline tried to hover forwards but her body resolutely refused to move from where she stood._

 _"_ _Weird. I can't fly here." she told her companion with a frown of confusion._

 _"_ _No, me either. Probably because we're not actually here, it's not a real place. I guess we're walking then, old school." Stefan replied distractedly._

 _They walked towards the nearest door and Marceline cautiously opened it, peering through at the room beyond. It wasn't a neat cloakroom like the corresponding room in the real palace, it lead directly to a large hangar that Marceline knew for a fact Bonnie had repurposed for other uses several centuries ago. They must still be too far back in her memories. She almost turned to tell Stefan so but a flicker of movement at the other end of the hangar caught her eye._

 _It was Bonnibel, or the memory of her. She looked different without the faint shallow scars that ran from her cheeks to her collar bones courtesy of the Lich's pet Grimmalk or the gleaming silver thumb ring Stefan had given her to help her overcome her trauma. She carried herself differently too, a little less self assured. Memory Bonnie was holding a box and speaking to her reflection in a mirror._

 _"_ _So, um, I wanted to say thank you for helping me with the Gumball Guardians. I made something for you and I was wondering, if you'd like to maybe have dinner some night? Um, maybe, uh- oh get it together, Bonnibel! You can talk to attractive women. Focus." she finished with a frustrated head shake, putting the box down on her workbench and letting her hands push the thick gummy hair back from her face in an unconscious gesture of irritation._

 _"_ _Try again. Deep breath. Shoko, I wanted to thank you. I couldn't have finished the Guardians without you and I really like you and- dammit!"_

 _"_ _Guess she was always awkward around cute girls." Stefan murmured in Marceline's ear, making her jump. She'd forgotten he was there._

 _"_ _Who the fuck is she giving a present to? Who's Shoko?" Marceline growled, centuries old jealousy burning in her chest._

 _"_ _Obviously nobody you need to worry about if you've known each other all these years and she's never mentioned it you. Come on, Marcy. Let the memory princess have her privacy."_

 _She reluctantly let herself be pulled backwards out of the room and followed the big man as he took the stairs two at a time, huffing with unexpected fatigue at the physical exertion. It was more walking than either of them had done in centuries; the stairs just seemed to go on forever._

 _They climbed the all the way to the very top; instead of the expected wide landing and corridors leading off to the different wings of their family suites the staircase let out onto a wide flat roof under a sunset sky. The walls that rose around them were half finished, there were loose dressed stones waiting to be added and buckets of wet cement and tools everywhere like the workers had just left for a break._

 _"Of course. She's still building memories." Marceline murmured, nodding towards the unfinished masonry._

 _"_ _Back down a couple of floors then, do you think?" Stefan asked._

 _They made their way down a few flights of steps and opened another door at random. Marceline knew immediately that it wasn't the right one either, but she couldn't bring herself to close the door and walk away. Warmth was slipping down to coil in her chest, meeting a rising bubble of joy the scene before her had caused. She'd opened the memory of their wedding day._

 _Memory Marceline stared at the woman in white who'd just stepped up next to her like she'd never seen anything more lovely in all her life. Well honestly, she still wasn't sure she ever had. There was Bonnie, looking unbelievably beautiful in her dress, and all the guests sitting in the courtyard surrounded by autumn roses in pinks and reds. Memory Marceline looked dazed, like she hadn't even noticed there was anyone else watching. She'd only had room in her head to worry about one person that day._

 _"_ _I've never seen it from this angle. It was pretty much a blur, I was so anxious." she whispered to the other vampire, eyes never leaving the couple standing hand in hand under the floral archway. He just smiled gently and rested a hand on her shoulder._

 _"_ _We've got a couple of minutes to watch it again."_

 _The tiny marshmallow Candy Kingdom officiator was speaking quietly to the memory couple, too softly for any of the guests to catch. His words at the very beginning had been only for their ears._

 _"_ _We are in the presence of your peers and loved ones, today we all are equals under the sky. A marriage is the blending of two people into one, a joining of spirits. There are no queens here today, no princesses. Only two people who wish to be united together in love. Do you forsake your titles, your status and all of your earthly power while you become bound to one another?" he asked them both quietly._

 _They murmured their assent and he nodded, smiling gently at them both. Then he raised his voice for the benefit of their guests and the ceremony began._

 _"_ _Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two women in the sacred bond of marriage. If anyone knows of any reason why they should not be so joined then let them speak now or forever hold their peace."_

 _There was a tense pause and an angry wail from the back of the crowd. That had been baby Finn, annoyed at having to sit quietly with Jake's great aunt Maureen and wanting to join his mothers at the top of the aisle. There was a polite ripple of laughter from the guests but nobody else said anything. After a moment the officiator nodded and continued._

 _"_ _So be it. Best men, do you have the rings?"_

 _Peppermint Butler and Stefan handed each woman a ring of silver before stepping back into place behind their respective brides, the Stefan next to future Marceline squeezed her hand and grinned._

 _"_ _If you'd bailed I'd have had to marry her." he reminded her quietly._

 _"_ _If she'd bailed I'd have had to marry P-Butts." Marceline replied with a feigned shudder. They shared an amused grin for a second but quieted immediately when memory Marcy began to recite her vows._

 _"_ _I promise to you, Bonnibel Bubblegum, and to all of our witnesses here today that I will always be faithful, honest and true to you. I will lend you my strength when you feel weak, I will carry you through the hard times and I will share all the good times with you, I will be by your side for as long as I live. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."_

 _Marceline had wanted to add the traditional ancient vows to her own even though almost nobody they'd invited would recognise them. Somehow they were something she remembered from her childhood, one of the random bits of recollection that had stuck with her from before the world was blow apart._

 _"I give you this ring as symbol of our marriage, and my love for you."_

 _Memory Marceline slid the thin sliver band onto Bonnie's outstretched finger and grinned at her joyfully. Her eyes were suspiciously shiny but neither the Stefan by her side nor the memory of him in his official Vampire Guard cloak and best man suit chose to comment on it._

 _"_ _I promise to you, Marceline Abadeer, and to all of our witnesses here today that I will always love you, respect and protect you, with every fibre of my heart. I will share your hopes and joys, your adventures as well as your sorrows. Above all I will always remain your very best friend. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I give you this ring as symbol of our marriage, and my love for you"_

 _And memory Bonnie repeated the same motion, sliding a matching ring onto Marceline's finger. She unconsciously rubbed her thumb against where the thin band of metal sat snugly against her hand, a physical reminder of their joining._

 _"_ _What has been joined today, let no person part. It is with the very greatest pleasure I pronounce you wife and wife, you may kiss."_

 _They did, tenderly and much more briefly than Marceline remembered. To her it had seemed like the kiss had lasted for hours, maybe days, and the cheers of the witnesses roared in her ears the whole time. As the newlyweds turned to walk back down the aisle together arm in arm she backed away from the doorway, smiling wistfully._

 _"_ _I don't think I'm ever going to get sick of being reminded of that." she told Stefan as he gently closed the door to the memory wedding. "I remember for days afterwards I felt like my face was going to crack from smiling so much. It didn't seem real at first."_

 _He just smiled back and squeezed her hand briefly, then indicated further up the staircase, closer to the half finished walls at the top._

 _"_ _Further up then, we must be close."_

 _They tried another couple of doors, caught glimpses of seven year old Phoebe reading haltingly from a picture book in the cosy armchair in her mother's personal study; thirteen year old Finn sulkily helping Bonnie water her favourite roses as he gazed longingly down into the town where his school friends had been hanging around the shops and generally being a low level nuisance; another memory Marceline perched on the roof under a blanket of stars with her ukulele, singing quietly and trying not to look around and smile when she realised her wife was spying on her from the trapdoor leading down into the palace. And then they were in the royal bedroom, watching Jake from earlier that same day kiss his mother on the cheek and tell her he'd be back soon, to take care of herself and feel better._

 _"_ _It must be the next one." Stefan murmured, already reaching for the handle._

 _That door opened onto snow, with dream Bonnie standing almost hip deep under a full moon, staring up into the sky and shivering violently._

 _"_ _I'm not afraid of you." she told the snow and she began to struggle up the mountain, towards Simon's place. They made to follow but after a couple of steps the dream dissolved into streaks of colour and then they were standing in Simon's lounge, watching dream Bonnie stare around at the furniture. She shook her head and made for the staircase. They followed her down into the caves under the mountain and into the same room she'd been forced to use to create Victoria, empty of everything but-_

 _"_ _SIMON!"_

 _Marceline lunged forwards and her hands passed straight through his shoulders. He looked up almost as though he was looking directly into her face but she knew he couldn't be. It was a dream, just a memory of a dream._

 _"_ _Take care of my girls." he told her, looking her dead in the eye. A tiny hint of a smile flickered to his face and he glanced down, looking at her wedding band, then his eyes were locked back on hers._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry… for everything… I… remember…"_

 _And then his eyes rolled back into his head and he disappeared, just vanished right into the air._

 _"_ _Simon… I don't understand. Was he talking to me? Could he see me?" Marceline asked Stefan, bewildered._

 _But dream Bonnie had already turned away and there in the doorway hovered a shadow, a nightmare Marceline hadn't ever thought she'd see again. If she'd had a heartbeat then surely it would have stuttered to a stop when she saw the woman now smiling grimly at her wife._

 _"Pretty Pretty. Just a deep pool of terror, aren't you? And yes, so very pretty."_

 _"_ _Estelle." Marceline growled. "And she has my fucking crown! I'll kill her; I'll rip her damn throat out myself! How is she even still alive?"_

 _But then she saw the mass of shadowy figures behind the false queen and then Bonnie was shouting for their daughter and the whole world burst into intense heat and flame-_

 _"_ _Oh man- your Majesty, I'm so sorry for your loss. But you really gotta wake up."_

 _Where had the Cosmic Owl come from? Before she could move or speak he clapped his wings together and suddenly they were back out in the hallway of the dream palace, alone again._


	4. Chapter 4

**Double Plesiosaur update in one night, whaaaat? This one comes with some serious trigger warnings though, we're heading into some darkness that won't resolve for quite a while. The trigger warnings also kinda contain spoilers, so if you don't wanna know details then please be aware that Much Darkness is about to happen, then skip down to the chapter without reading the next line.**

 **Trigger Warnings. Historical rape, murder and child abuse. **

* * *

"Mom, who's Estelle?"

Marceline gritted her teeth, trying to keep from letting her anger spill over into her voice when she replied. Not only did she not want to talk about it in general, she'd far rather have ripped her own arms off than have to explain it all to Finn. Phoebe had gone to call Jake and the pups and Peppermint Butler was attending to Bonnie who was still sleeping peacefully. Marceline had instructed him to let her rest; peace would be in very short supply when she woke.

Finn was still staring at her expectantly, twisting the ends of his fuzzy goatee beard between his fingers with nerves.

"Mom? C'mon, you can tell me. I'm an adult now, I can deal with it. Just, please? I gotta know what we're up against. I can tell it's not nothing, you know." he said with a sigh of frustration. Dammit he was right, he did need to know. She sighed too and pushed her hair back from her face before replying.

"Estelle was the woman who lead the rebels when they destroyed the Citadel and I ran away from the remains of the Vampire Kingdom, four centuries ago. I never thought I'd see her again. I didn't even know if she was still alive or not, I'd hoped she'd been killed in the fighting; most everyone else was. Your aunts and Stefan escaped once it was obvious there was nothing left to fight for and nobody saw Estelle during the last battle. We all wanted her to be gone. She's dangerous and ruthless. She's a vampire with a Talent, too. A really bad one. She's ancient, vicious."

"So what's her Talent? It can't be anything we can't defend against, you're a necromancer and Uncle Stefan's a mind reader. How bad can it be?" Finn replied, brow furrowed.

She shivered a little, for his innocence. More than anything Marceline hoped he could keep that through what was to come.

"It sounds simple, but her Talent is to look at you and just… know your deepest fear. Whatever your greatest weakness is, Estelle can see it like it was written on your face. Stefan can read it right out of your head if you're thinking about it and yeah I know I can be scary, but Estelle is something else. She will always know exactly how to undo you. No matter what, she knows how to work your fear against you. Scared of being alone? You'll wake up surrounded by piles of ash that used to be your friends, with Estelle's scent all over your bedroom. She'll kill them so silently even super sensitive vampire senses won't wake you. Estelle knows terror so intimately that she had become terror. Living terror."

Finn pulled his mother into a tight hug. She'd never been prouder of him, or more thankful she'd rescued him and taken him home those sixteen years earlier.

"She killed people right in the same room while you slept. It must have been awful for you."

"Yeah. And she's on her way back. If the dream is going to be true, which it almost certainly is, she's going to come here and she'd going to be alone with your Mama. And you know what? I'll die all the way before I let that happen."

Finn shivered against her, still hugging her close. Marceline meant every word; she really would give up her life before she'd let the rebel leader anywhere near her family.

"Nobody's gonna die. Not you, not anyone. I won't let you." Finn said firmly.

"I wish I had your confidence." Marceline replied quietly.

In the back of her thoughts she heard the Cosmic Owl's dream words; _"I'm so sorry for your loss."_ Somebody close to them was going to die, no matter how hard Finn wanted it to be otherwise. Someone had already died and now she had a much better idea of what might have happened to Matilda. One more lost friend to avenge; she silently vowed to take the grimmest pleasure in slowly ripping Estelle's head away from her neck, watching the skin and tendons gradually separate and turn to ashes. Bonnie might think she was too Good, too honourable, to torture another sentient being no matter how Evil they were. Marceline knew herself better.

Without any warning at all something else was shoved brusquely into her head and she froze, shock coursing through her. Finn still had his broad arms around her shoulders and he stared at her in confusion when he felt her entire body tense against his hold, green eyes going wide in shock.

"Mom? What's happening? What's wrong?"

"The sunroom. Call Peppermint Butler, fetch Doctor Princess as quick as you can and go wake your Mama. Now, Finn!"

And she was gone, out of the door and down the corridor so fast he was left rocking by the abruptness of her flight. One second he'd been comforting his distressed mother, next she was shouting instructions over her shoulder and streaking away like a pale rocket. Finn tugged his braid in frustration and hurried from the room to follow her commands; she never ordered him around without a good reason. He slid his mobile from his pocket and dialled the number for the doctor even as he sprinted up the service stairs that lead most directly to his mothers' private rooms.

...

The sunroom doors burst open and Matilda jumped in fright, even as Zoe laid a cool hand protectively on her stomach and pulled her a little closer into the safe circle of her cold muscular arms.

In the nine hundred long years they'd known each other she'd never seen Marceline look so amazed by anything. The other woman dropped out of the air and landed hard on her knees by the chair Zoe had helped her lover into. Shakily she reached out and took both her hands, staring into her face with a mixture of shock and wonder, almost visibly trembling. Her eyes slid down Matilda, taking in her appearance, then flicked to Zoe who shook her head almost imperceptibly. Tilda wished she knew what they were saying, she felt certain that they were talking through their Sire link. She missed that link so damn much; it was agony to be torn from her Sire.

"M-Matilda! I thought you'd died, I- Tell me everything. How are you alive? _Human?_ How is any of this even happening?"

Marceline's voice sounded like she was caught somewhere between deep joy and numb shock.

"We found the other vampires. We, we found Estelle, and her gang. She's still alive. She's trying to rule then as the 'One True Queen' but there are plenty of them who are still loyal to you and plenty others who would be if you were more than just a myth to them. And she's picked up some new friends too, some of the ones she turned from her herds during the rebellion have manifested Talents. One of them, she's... well she was barely human enough to survive the magic when they Turned her, she's Isaac's lineage and you remember what a monster he was. Well this one, her Talent is pretty damn unique too. She's Neutral, terrified. She probably wouldn't have done it on her own but she's pretty deeply under the control of her Sire. Isaac forced her to bite me, and her Talent… I've never seen anything like her. She, she took my vampirism back. Sucked the magic right out of me. It was like that night with Belle Noche, I felt when our connection snapped and my heart started beating again. She made me human, alive and mortal and-"

Matilda broke off with into a violent coughing fit, doubling over from the force of it and gasping desperately for her breath. After a couple of tense moments she recovered and when she wiped at her nose she left a smear of fresh blood across her face. Even without tasting it Marceline knew it was too thick and tainted by radiation and mortal sickness. It was exactly the same as it had been that night nine hundred years previously when she'd pressed her fangs into Matilda's neck and drunk the life from her, injected her own undead venom in its place, ripped her human existence from her and turned her into a vampire.

"Grod, Tilda. You're dying."

Marceline hadn't meant to say it out loud but she'd been too shocked to think better of it. Matilda just nodded weakly, eyes downcast and voice brittle.

"Yeah, I know. Was hoping your lovely wife could help with that actually, science me better or something. Give me back my vampirism. I can't live like this, it's awful, I can't breathe and-"

"But- and you're- how?" Marceline gasped, eyes going wide and staring down at Matilda's stomach.

"Hey now, she doesn't need to know just yet-"

Probably Zoe had meant to say that silently through the Sire link but she was still in shock too and the moment the words escaped her lips Matilda whirled to stare at her. That wasn't right, Zoe didn't keep secrets from her. Betrayal boiled through her along with the now familiar nausea.

"What? I'm what? What don't I need to know? Zoe!"

But before anyone could answer her the door banged open again and suddenly the sunroom was crowded with a mess of people all speaking at once. The Candy queen was there and so were Peppermint Butler, Finn and Phoebe. The little prince and princess looked bigger and more grown up than they had been when Matilda had last seen them, she smiled a little when she saw how much muscle Finn had gained and the fluffy little beard he'd tried to grow. They were followed by the palace doctor and Stefan who floated in with a wince, holding his head like it was hurting him for some reason.

Matilda wanted to shout at Zoe again, wanted to know what it was she wasn't supposed to know yet, wanted to get up and hug the kids and share an awkward embrace with the queen's gorgeous wife and tell Stefan she'd missed the crap out of him. Wanted to do anything but sit and be seized by another wracking coughing fit while the no-nonsense doctor woman took her limp wrist and pressed a stethoscope to her chest, prodded and poked at her, talked to Zoe and Marceline about her over her head like she wasn't even there. The doctor was putting her hands all over Matilda's aching body and when she got to her swollen, painful stomach she stopped and frowned. She pressed the stethoscope there too and listened intently then prodded again, making Matilda wince in pain. Her stomach felt weirdly hard and was increasingly tender.

"How long?" she asked Zoe, which made no sense.

"I'm not sure. It's been in stasis since she was bitten the first time so… maybe two and a half months? Three at most, I lost track. We were out in the wilds together, we didn't have a calendar or anything."

"What's two and a half months? What are you talking about?" Matilda demanded, looking between them angrily.

The room went silent, all eyes on the pale blonde vampire. Zoe sighed and floated down to Matilda's eye level. She took her hand gently and turned it over and over between her own, hesitating so long that at first Matilda thought she wasn't going to reply. Finally she spoke in a soft voice, still staring at Matilda's tanned and undeniably human skin.

"I've known since the night Isaac's lineage bit you but I didn't want to upset you, sweetheart. I didn't know what to say and I didn't want to make it worse for you than it already was. I felt when your heart started to beat again, and then I felt another, faster beat beneath yours. Do you remember before we were Turned, the night we left our tribe? You remember… my brother? And what happened before we escaped?"

Matilda's icy eyes misted with horror and she looked away, down to her lap. Anything but meet her lover's steady gaze and the ancient memories contained in her face. Images rose unbidden to the surface of her mind; no matter how hard she tried to shove them away they played out inside her head like she was living it again nine hundred years later. Brandon's rough hands wrenching her knees apart, his hot breath on her face while the screamed and screamed and Zoe begged him to stop. He'd snarled like an animal and in a weird way that was the worst, like he'd left his humanity behind and she was being violated by a senseless beast. And he'd been so heavy, crushing her; she couldn't breathe for his weight. She shook her head again and shoved the memories away harder. She'd do anything at all but remember Brandon. Matilda recoiled from Zoe's embrace and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering violently. Zoe backed off a little, understanding without needing to be told that her lover couldn't stand to be touched when she was lost in a violent flashback. The tribe had scarred them all but poor, sweet Matilda had gotten the worst of it. The things she'd lived through had been so much worse than the simple beatings and verbal abuse Zoe had grown up with.

"No. Not Brandon, he doesn't exist to me. It never happened, you understand? It wasn't real. I don't want to remember. I want it to have never happened, I want it to have been a nightmare or a hallucination. It _hurt_ , Zoe. It hurt for weeks afterwards and I could barely walk at first. What he did to me… I- wait, what are you trying to tell me? What has any of this got to do with Brandon? Zoe?"

The blonde woman hung her head and when she spoke it was to the floor. She was too ashamed, too full of ancient guilt over what had happened, unable look her lover in the face.

"Matilda, love, I'm sorry. Because of that night, because of what he did, you're-"

"NO! Please, Zoe!"

"-you're pregnant. I'm so sorry."

" _No_." Tilda sobbed brokenly. "Not him, please, anyone else but him. Please, Zoe!"

Zoe wrapped her arms gently around Matilda and let her lover's tears fall against her cool shoulder.

"Did anyone… could it be from anyone else?" she asked quietly.

Matilda shook her head no; her own father had tried plenty of times but he'd never managed to finish the act and he'd lost interest in her when she'd grown older, developed a woman's body instead of a child's. By the time her periods had begun she'd managed to convince herself she was still a virgin, what he'd done didn't count. No other man had touched her in years until the night Zoe's own brother had caught them together and decided to teach the pretty redhead what the attention of a real man felt like.

And they'd run away before he could out them to the rest of the humans they lived with. If they'd stayed they'd have both suffered the same treatment from all the men of their tribe. It had been a common punishment as well as the accepted 'cure' for homosexual acts in their brutal post-war society. No matter that she'd taken a vow to protect them, Matilda had spent a long time hating humans for that. Apparently she'd carried part of her attacker with her, frozen timelessly inside of her own body for nine hundred years. And now that she was human again it was growing right along with her sickness. Soon she'd be able to feel it move, it already had a heartbeat. A tiny human life given against her will and hidden for nine hundred years. It was almost more than she could get her head around, more than she wanted to ever think about.

"Matilda? You're sick as well. I don't know what with right now but you might want to consider an elective abortion in the interest of your own health." the doctor was telling her gently.

Matilda nodded, dazed, too numb to speak. Kill the baby? She should kill it as quickly as possible. It was Brandon's bastard, a physical reminder of what he'd done to her that terrible night. If she let her mind wander sometimes she could still feel the awful fullness, the terrible pain as he took from her something she had never wanted to give him. But the baby was hers too and in a way it was Zoe's. Zoe's brother, Zoe's blood kin. And perhaps the only chance she'd ever get to experience a pregnancy. Maybe the last thing she could do before the sickness in her blood took her to the next life. Something of herself to leave for her sweet Zoe once she was gone.

"Anybody who is not either currently or formerly a vampire, please leave the room. We need to handle this as Official Business." Marceline said abruptly, shooing bodies towards the exit. She dropped a quick kiss onto her wife's head and the pink woman shot her a weary smile before she closed the door and allowed them their privacy.

"D'you wanna tell me about what happened?" Marceline added quietly, floating back to Matilda's side and looking down at her worriedly. Matilda swallowed against her very mortal terror at reliving it, but if she couldn't trust Marceline then there was nobody in the world she could ever trust.

"I… yeah, ok. I know you remember what it was like back then, but it was different for you. You were born before the war. No matter how much you learn about what the tribes were like you didn't have to grow up with them, you were never a victim of their savagery the way me and Zoe were. We knew, we all knew what would happen to anyone that was even accused of being... gay. Grod, it's still hard for me to even say that word. And we tried to fight it, I tried to not be in love with her but you know you can't fight love. So we hid it from everyone. Nobody knew and we were going to be sisters by marriage so we were expected to spend time together anyway until the wedding. Zoe's father bought me for his son, it wasn't like I had any choice about it. We'd meet in the dead of night outside the camp boundaries and just lie together, just hold each other and be close. We were scared to take it further at first but teenage hormones are pretty mind-bending and after a while it was too strong to ignore. Before long we were consummating our bond every night in the woods. That's how Brandon found us, I guess we must have made too much noise or he saw us sneak away."

She stopped, shivering at the memory. It was almost like his harsh voice was snarling at her out of the darkness again while Zoe stiffened with terror in her arms.

"He told me he was going to teach me to appreciate a real man, that he'd make me normal again. Then he... he forced himself onto me. He was so heavy I could barely breathe. It only lasted a couple of minutes but I'd never bled so much before in my life and I was sure he was going to kill me. Afterwards he told me to get dressed and come back to camp with him, he told me I was his whore instead of his wife, that he owned me now. Like I was a dog or something. And, and that's when Zoe stabbed him right through the neck with his own hunting knife. She'd stolen it out of his bag while he was distracted with me, I saw her creeping up behind him. He was still alive when we left, I don't know if he died. Grod, I hope so. I hope he was terrified by how much he bled. I hope he felt the burn of the knife pushing into his flesh for the rest of his pitiful life. I hope it hurt worse than anything he'd ever felt before, hope he sobbed and screamed and there was nobody to comfort him."

Both vampires had their arms around her when Matilda finished her story. She couldn't stop the tears that spilled down her face, didn't even want to try if she was honest about it. She'd kept her secret for so long and she'd tried to forget everything about her miserable human life. She'd pushed the memories so deep it had almost been a struggle to recall them when she'd been undead. Now she remembered it all so clearly like it had happened only yesterday. Or, two and a half months ago. Maybe three. She let her hand slide down to her abdomen and tried to listen to that secret second heartbeat but her human ears wouldn't be persuaded to focus on anything so faint. Still, she knew it was there. Hidden, waiting, growing. A pure, ancient human with no concept of its father's crime. Her own father had been indescribably evil, he'd been one of her first feeds. They tracked him and she took her revenge for stealing her young innocence by sucking the life out of this throat while he flailed and begged for mercy.

Time was different for vampires. Time did not heal their emotional wounds and it didn't numb their traumas with its passing. It was the reason Stefan had never gotten over losing Marco, the reason Marceline still saw the faces of her dead comrades in her sleep every night and carried the guilt of their deaths with her at all times. It meant a vampire could never push their mental wounds to one side the way a human did. But it also meant that once she'd been Turned she was disconnected from her previous life, like her memories were just borrowed from a stranger. Like the vicious rape had happened to someone else or in a past life, like it was a story she'd heard about or a picture she'd seen. Matilda was human again now though and the memories were all too real, too vivid as they crowded her mind in a way they'd never been able to when she was undead. She tried to shake the images free from her mind but they clung to her; she felt his awful touch on her skin like a sickness no matter what she did. More than anything Matilda wanted to shower and scrub her skin clean until it bled.

Stefan had stood guard silently by the door with his eyes averted for the whole time that she'd spoken and she knew he'd continue to keep his distance until she asked him to come closer. He could feel how badly afraid of men she was just then, unable to process being close to any male until she'd recovered a little from reliving her traumatic memories. She hoped Finn would understand when Stefan explained that the little prince would need to give her time before she could be near him. Matilda shivered as fresh tears splashed down onto the other women's shoulders.

"I never told you because it didn't seem important, once we'd been Turned." she choked out to Marceline.

"You didn't have to tell me, there was no reason for me to know. It's your story, you can tell it or keep it secret from anyone you want." the queen replied gently, stroking a cool hand possessively down the back of Matilda's neck in an unconsciously intimate gesture. Grod, she'd missed her queen so much. She wished she'd never left the palace.

"You won't tell your wife? I can't stand the thought of her looking at me with pity, I don't want to be a victim to her. Or the children, please don't let them hear all the details. They're so big now, they'll know what it was and how it must have happened but… please, don't let them know how scared I was or how much I bled. How badly he hurt me." Matilda mumbled into her Sire's shoulder.

"They'll not hear a word of it from me, I promise."

Matilda nodded her distant thanks and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. She was faint again, light headed and dizzy. But relieved in a way because now she knew why she was so sick all the time, why her breasts ached and her stomach seemed swollen. She'd physically become what Marceline had wanted her to be when she was bitten and Marceline hadn't known she was pregnant so her abdomen had been perfectly flat for all her time as a vampire. Now it was reverting to the subtle rounded bulge that she'd put down to malnutrition before the bite. Soon it would swell beyond her ability to hide it. And with luck, with help from the doctor and the Candy queen and their advanced medical science Matilda could stay alive long enough to see her child and leave them in Zoe's loving care. If she had to die, she considered, there could be worse things to leave behind.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE! Are we all recovered from the heaviness of chapter four? There is, I admit, more whimsy in this chapter. But there is also darkness. Daaarkness. This whole story is gonna get quite dark in places. But so far thank you all for the lovely feedback, I do adore hearing from you all and if you take a moment to leave me a review and let me know how you feel about something I wrote I'd appreciate it a lot.**

 **Content Warning: medical exposition, pupsters, gratuitous acts of swan-theft, swooning bears, tropes.**

* * *

Zoe and Matilda's suite hadn't been touched in all the time they'd been gone and when Marceline left them to rest her brain was buzzing furiously like there were too many thoughts crammed in together. Matilda was alive, human, pregnant. Matilda was dying. And she'd been through things that were so much worse than what Marcy had assumed; she ached to comfort the petite redhead but she didn't know what to say. All she could do was hope simply being there for her would be enough. Marceline made her way back to the small drawing room by the throne room with a heavy heart; Bonnie had almost certainly taken Doctor Princess there to discuss Matilda's care.

They were gathered around the hearth and talking together in low serious voices. They looked up as she entered; it was a relief to see that Bonnie was recovered from her migraine enough to stand and focus on business. Marceline made a mental note to thank Stefan later.

"Whooping cough, at the very least. Probably pneumonia too I suspect." Doctor Princess was saying. "She'll need antibiotics and bed rest. As for the blood, I'll need samples and-"

"No need for samples. Matilda has blood cancer." Marceline interrupted tiredly.

"Oh, and you'd know that because of your medical doctorate from the Undead University, would you?" Doctor Princess asked in a tone dripping sarcasm. She'd mastered many skills but being polite to people she didn't like wasn't one of them.

"Eleanor, please. Let Marceline speak." Bonnie replied, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. The doctor just huffed quietly in reply, frowning at Marceline and silently daring her to contradict her medical opinion again.

"I tasted her blood when she was last human, I was the one who Turned her. Trust me, if anyone knows blood it's a vampire. We have perfect recall and it really doesn't matter that it was nine hundred years ago, I can still feel the exact moment my fangs broke her skin if I focus on the memory. Her blood was too thick, too metallic. It was almost inedible. She's got blood cancer and probably some radiation sickness too, I don't know how resilient ancient humans were to the kind of crap the mushroom bombs had thrown into the environment after a hundred years. She's physically reverted to exactly how she was when I Turned her, right down to the physical and emotional traumas. If she's about two and a half months pregnant that gives us six and a half months to-"

"More like four and a half. Maybe even less. We can't risk the baby going full term, especially when the mother is so sick. The minute the child is viable I'm going to attempt an emergency c-section and begin Matilda on aggressive chemotherapy. It's her only chance. I'll still need those blood samples, we need to know what kind of cancer we're dealing with." Doctor Princess interrupted.

Marceline nodded slowly; that did make sense. Little though she wanted to play nice with the sarcastic doctor she had to yield to her greater medical experience.

"Four and a half months then, maybe less. I'll get those samples for you, I doubt she'll want someone she doesn't know sticking needles into her. How did the baby even survive this long when she spent all of her time after its conception wandering in the radioactive wastes?"

"I'm not terribly surprised you don't know much about evolution." Dr Princess replied with a superior smirk. "But since Matilda was born a hundred years after the Mushroom War ended I'm going to go right ahead and assume that the amount of radiation in the atmosphere back then was a pretty huge selective pressure to produce humans who could carry a baby while also getting heavily irradiated. She's probably better adapted to that kind of background radiation than any of us are. So for the moment I see no risk to the baby but I still want her to get an ultrasound as soon as we can arrange it, unless your magical blood diagnostic skills can detect fetal abnormalities?"

"Look, I know you don't like me, Doctor. But I have every reason to believe that something terrible is coming to Ooo and you should have fair warning to protect yourself. Everyone should. There are vampires coming, the bad kind that drink the blood of innocents and kill just for the fun of it. They will torture you to death out of boredom and believe me, nobody deserves the kind of twisted shit they do. I've seen them in action plenty of times, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even you. Don't go out after nightfall, don't answer knocking at the door once the sun's down no matter what. Hang garlic, crosses, mirrors. It won't work against the younger vamps but there's some of the Old Blood left who are still scared by that kind of pre-war crap. Spread the word, tell them the Vampire Queen is going to fulfil her vows and protect anyone who wants it from what's coming. Please excuse me, I need to go and make arrangements."

She bowed formally to Doctor Princess and spared a strained smile for Bonnie, then exited the room and went to find Stefan. Her wife could handle the formal Candy business but for the first time since she'd moved to the palace Marceline needed to call a full Royal Vampire council, for all it was just going to be her, Stefan and Zoe. It was looking increasingly likely that they had an invasion to prepare for.

...

"Did you see the new guidelines?"

"What does it mean? Aren't vampires friendly? But the queen is friendly!"

"I'm scared!"

The citizens of the Candy Kingdom had woken to discover that overnight a large board had been put up in the middle of the town square, bearing a bigger version of the same warning that had been delivered with their morning mail.

 _BEWARE OF VAMPIRE ATTACK!_

 _The Queens have reason to believe that there will soon be marauding vampires within the Kingdom. Vampires are usually only a threat at night and around sunrise and sunset; follow these guidelines and you can keep yourself safe:_

 _-DO NOT invite any vampire into your home, under any circumstances. Even a vampire you know, even one who you think is friendly. Even Queen Marceline. Vampires are sneaky and can disguise themselves as someone they are not! But vampires CANNOT enter your home uninvited._

 _-DO NOT open the door after dark, no matter who is knocking on the other side. Vampires can and will trick you into leaving your homes and making yourself vulnerable!_

 _-DO hang mirrors, garlic bulbs and wooden crosses outside your doors. These objects frighten some vampires!_

 _Anyone who does not feel safe in their home is welcome to stay at the palace until the threat has passed. Citizens are politely reminded that the marauding vampires are ENEMIES of Queen Marceline and that she has served this Kingdom faithfully for years. Anybody wishing to discuss this further is welcome to make an appointment to speak in private with the Candy Queen, please see Peppermint Butler at the palace for an appointment time._

STAY SAFE, YOU CAN PREVENT VAMPIRE ATTACKS!

"It's not gonna be enough." Finn murmured worriedly as he and Phoebe surveyed the townsfolk scrambling around in a panic.

"I know. But what else can we do? They can't all go hide in the Nightosphere or the Crystal Dimension. And most of them are gonna wind up in the palace anyway." Phoebe replied steadily, though the deep frown creasing her brow belied her own worries.

Finn shrugged and didn't reply, he was thinking hard about Victoria and how he'd need to break the news to her too. She was almost human, she'd be at a much greater risk than almost anyone but him and Betty if a rebel vampire caught her scent. Despite her ice magic he didn't want her to be in any danger, especially if he wasn't around to protect her. Phoebe was looking closely at his face too, like she could read his mind. Maybe she could, he'd always been an open book to his sister.

"You should let Victoria and Ice King know. I need to tell Daven too. I'm not stupid, we all know this won't just affect our kingdom. In fact I'm surprised Mama hasn't called a Grand Council meeting yet." she said quietly. "Go on, be quick. I'll cover for you."

Finn didn't need to be told twice; he slipped away and off around the side of the courtyard to the stables. Stealing Morrow again was too risky and taking a candy horse was too noisy so he opted to borrow his Mama's rarely used flying swan instead. Even still it was a miracle he made it out of the kingdom undetected. Phoebe watched his disappearing silhouette until he was just a tiny dot against the background of the Ice Mountains off in the distance. She sighed, troubled. Finn was going to face one hell of a row when Mama found out about Victoria, even with all this other stuff going on. Maybe she'd face the same row over meeting Daven, not that she was too eager to see him again but she was determined to face the coming threats as fully armed as possible and that meant learning to control her fire as a weapon. But for now she was on crowd control detail and she stepped out of the courtyard into the waiting throng of anxious candy citizens with her calmest expression fixed in place no matter how her flames flickered in nervous agitation.

"Princess, is your mother evil?" a candy boy shouted in terror.

"No, my Mom is not evil. She's good, and she's here to protect us. What we know so far is that the same rebel vampires who tried to hurt her in the past and drove her out of her kingdom are almost certainly coming back to try to finish the job. And we can defend against them. This is _our_ kingdom, we have the home ground advantage. If they're expecting to find us sitting around unprepared then they're gonna be sadly disappointed, yeah?"

"But what if they try to s-suck our blood?"

"Stay indoors after dark. Don't answer knocking after nightfall, even if you think you know the person on the other side. Here, I made some garlic necklaces for everyone. Wear them all the time, vampires can't stand the smell. But like the signs said, if you don't feel safe at home come to the palace instead, we have enough room for everyone."

There was some uncertain muttering through the crowd as the garlic garlands were passed around but mostly for now the general consensus was that most people would stay in their homes at least for now, until there was any immediate danger to flee from. A lot of people were talking about brave and handsome Prince Jake and how he and Prince Finn would protect them with their manly, heroic ways. Phoebe rolled her eyes at that; stupid boys always got all the credit. If there was fighting to be done she wasn't going to sit at home sighing dramatically and wondering when the menfolk would return from the war. She was the daughter of two of the most badass women to ever exist, she was going to go out there and incinerate some rebels if they dared threaten anyone in her family. She swallowed hard against the childish panic that wanted to rise in her throat at the thought of killing. She was a flame elemental, she was a badass princess. Hadn't her Mom shredded a whole mercenary army when they'd been trying to kill her brothers? And Mama wasn't scared to take a life if it was for the greater good, either. It was looking more and more likely that a full scale war was on the horizon and bad things happened in war. The sooner Phoebe made peace with that the better.

...

Bonnie was busy contacting the other members of the Grand Council while Marceline went to round up everyone she could find and bring them to safety. That meant Lady and the pups too, which was going to be awkward as hell but in a way the vampire was glad. It meant her wife couldn't keep on ignoring their daughter in law; they'd once been friends but despite making up with Jake the candy queen hadn't found the goodwill to forgive Lady for 'stealing' her son and grandchildren away from her. Marceline found the whole thing ridiculous but every attempt to talk to Bonnie about it had been shut down or lead to an argument so in the end she had reluctantly given up trying to force the subject. But as petty and vindictive as she was not even Bonnibel would leave one of their family members alone in danger and it sounded like there would be plenty of danger soon enough. Marceline didn't think the rebels would take long to figure out where Matilda and Zoe had escaped to.

She took to the air clad in her elbow length gloves and sunhat, eyes watering a little as she scanned the bright horizon. Was that... Bonnie's swan, flying off towards the Ice Kingdom? Her teeth clenched; Finn better be home by the time she got back or she'd go over there and drag him back to the palace herself. Hadn't she _just_ told him that Ooo was exponentially more dangerous than ever before and he had to ask express permission to go anywhere? There was very little chance it was anyone but her youngest son on the swan, she'd literally just left Bonnie in her study and she could see Firefly out in the main town square talking to the crowd. She'd give him as long as it took to round up Jake, Lady and the pups then if he wasn't home safely he was going to face the full strength of her parental wrath. She took off towards the centre of the grasslands first of all to alert Jake, Lady and the little girls. Then it was off into Grocery Town for Kim and TV who'd moved out the second they were physically old enough.

It turned out that TV's stint of being an independent adult had lasted all of a few weeks. Marceline found him hunched over an ancient game console in the corner of his parents' house frantically trying to protect a pixelated sun from some sort of giant toad. He looked around when she knocked and shot her a welcoming smile but didn't come off his game.

"Gran Gran!" Viola squeaked when she came toddling through from the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around her grandmother's legs and smiled up at her with a sticky, sugary mouth. Jake followed her dressed in a pink frilly apron, frying pan still in hand.

"Mom! Hey! Uh, you ok? You normally call." he asked, hurrying forward to wrap her in a one armed hug.

"Hello darling, yeah I'm fine. But you guys are gonna have to pack a few bags and come up to the palace for a while. Zoe and Matilda are back." she told him, casting a quick glace down to where her granddaughter was still dangling from her legs. No need to scare the little ones, the boys might be biologically adults by now but thanks to Bonnie's science fix the girls were still just toddlers. They'd only wanted them to have time to enjoy their childhoods but now with an invasion imminent Marceline regretted Jake and Lady's choice to let their kids age more slowly.

"Aunt Zoe and Aunt Tilda? But... oh. Ok. I'll, uh, go fetch Lady and the other girls. Viola, honey, come with Daddy."

Jake knew that that meant something was wrong, she could tell from the frown that creased his broad brow. TV was staring at them, videogame forgotten.

"What's going on, Gran Gran?" the boy asked, coming forward with the same frown on his brow that his father had worn. Marceline waited until Viola's piping voice was far enough in the distance as Jake strode out into the garden with her before replying.

"Did your father ever tell you about the Vampire Wars?" she asked quietly. TV shook his head. "It's a long story. Basically there are some very bad vampires coming to Ooo, because of me, and I'm gonna have to lead a war effort against them. I'm not taking chances with anyone getting hurt. You guys will need to stay at the palace for now, until it's safe."

He was staring at her with wide eyes, mouth open in shock. Marcy avoided his gaze, ashamed.

"I did a lot of bad stuff when I was the Vampire Queen. I don't expect they'll show mercy to anyone." she added softly.

"But, are you saying they'd hurt civilians, just to get at you?" TV asked in surprise. Marceline assessed him with a long, cool look. Biologically he was maybe about twenty years old, still less developed that his brother Kim but emotionally an adult nonetheless. But he'd only had a limited amount of time in the world and had spent a lot of that on pursuits like video games, role playing and comics. He hero worshipped his Uncle Finn and hadn't had time for any of the history lessons or education that his mother had tried to insist upon. After all, he was not the second in line to the throne, after Jake it would be Kim Kilwhan who'd be crowned the Candy King if such a thing was ever needed. If she and Bonnie both died. It had seemed so impossible all those months ago when Jake had announced his engagement. And now it was staring them in the face. There was an outside chance that the pimply, round boy staring back at her could one day lead Ooo's political superpower. He needed to be prepared.

"I'm saying that wars get very ugly very quickly. And that is pays to be on the safe side. So come to the palace, I have some history books you're gonna need to look through."

...

Jake, Lady, the girls and TV headed back towards the candy palace with their luggage while Marceline waved them off and then turned towards Grocery Town to fetch Kim from his apartment. He'd been given a small sum of gold by his Rainicorn grandparents when he'd announced his intention to move out and had invested it in a couple of run down properties that he'd singlehandedly refurbished and rented out at a good profit. Hunson especially was thrilled with his great-grandson's killer business instincts. Marcy suspected that her eldest grandson's enterprising nature came from the Rainicorn side of his genetics since Jake had never shown any desire to be a property tycoon.

It wasn't a long flight out to Kim's place; Marcy sucked in a surprised breath when she caught sight of it. Kim was apparently occupying the penthouse of a rather fancy looking apartment block, he must be making even more than she'd realised. Despite all her worries and anxieties about what was coming her chest swelled with familial pride as she approached the full length windows that looked into the spacious lounge. She waved; there was Kim coiled up on his sofa and, oh, looked like he had a hot date with him. The woman's back was turned but Marceline recognised the fuzzy ears of a bear. Good for Kim, she thought. Bears were loyal as well as badass. She hovered closer, grinning at him, and picked up the conversation he was trying to focus on instead of looking over his date's shoulder and alerting her to his grandmother's presence.

"It's just that, before you meet my parents I want you to be prepared-" he glanced at Marceline again who was grinning widely, "-because my family are, well, unconventional."

"I know, Kim, and I love you for it. You know I won't judge you about your family, right? But the son of a Dog and a Rainicorn, of course your family is unconventional. I can't imagine your parents had an easy time with their own relationship, especially with everyone comparing them to the Prince and Princess."

"Yeah, about that. You remember I told you my Dad was adopted?"

"Yes, you said if your grandparents hadn't taken him in then he and your uncle might have ended up in an orphanage."

Marceline grinned harder than ever. What exactly had Kim told this girl about his family, then? She seemed to have no idea she was dating the second in line to the Candy throne.

"My grandparents, yes. They are... I don't want to scare you, Pat. But my grandmothers are-"

But she'd noticed he kept glancing at the window and she wasn't listening. She whipped around to see what her boyfriend was looking at and her eyes went wide.

"Kim?" she asked in a faint voice, "There's a lady floating in the air outside your window waving at us. Is... Is that... the Queen? Oh. It is, that's Queen Marceline. I used to listen to her records when I was a cub. And I don't even have my nicest dress on."

Then she dropped into his arms in a dead faint, clearly overcome. Marcy shrugged apologetically.

"DAMMIT GRAN GRAN! That was the opposite of how I wanted her to find out!" Kim yelled. He gently laid his girlfriend down on the sofa before going to the window to let his grandmother in.

"You do not have the moves, Kimbles." Marcy laughed, patting him fondly on the shoulder. Kim scowled.

"Look, I really like that girl and it's going really well and I just wanted to know she liked me for _me_ before I told her who I was, I don't want to date people just because they think it's cool to hang out with a prince. And then you just swoop in here, unannounced-"

"Yeah, well, I didn't do it for fun. There's no easy way to break it to you. Kim, we're about to be invaded. Pack up a bag of suits, grab your ladyfriend there and get your butt up to the palace, we've gotta make sure the whole family are safe. Your parents and the other pups are already there. Did you grow a beard?" Marceline added, frowning down at him.

"Yes. Because I'm not a child, Gran Gran. And we're perfectly safe here, we don't need-"

"Are you still fighting with your father?"

He looked down and away, scowling at the ground. Marceline and Kim had always been close, maybe even closer than he'd been with Jake.

"Kim, your father loves you. And you love him. You just have different attitudes, and that's ok isn't it? He's the crown prince, he's got a heap of responsibilities already. Just, don't be too hard on him because he doesn't want to come work for your real estate company. Come on, I'm not messing when I say that there's bad stuff coming. I really need you at the palace, someone has to help your Mom keep an eye on the girls."

Kim huffed and rolled his shoulders uncomfortably but it didn't take much stern grandmother glaring to get him moving. He set off in the direction of the candy palace with his groggy, half conscious girlfriend carefully supported on one shoulder and a duffel bag of suits on the other. Marceline watched him out of sight with a sigh; she's already decided to just go straight on to the Ice Kingdom and pick up Finn since there was little chance he'd done the sensible thing and gone home. She pushed back into the air and headed off towards the mountains with a sigh. Kim Kil Whan could have put his talents to better use trying to civilize Finn, she thought. Jake was a stable stay-home father and the crown prince too, he didn't need or want to work for his eldest son. Finn was... a constant worry to her. He wanted to be a hero, he got himself into plenty of trouble. And the cosmos was apparently not going to give him a break. Life would always be an adventure for her youngest child.

Marceline landed at the entrance of a cavern well below the Ice Fort proper and her awareness flared with two very rapid heartbeats. Grod, she hoped was wasn't about to catch them being inappropriate, that was going to be mortally embarrassing for everyone involved. But when she strode forward loudly enough that they should at least have time to scramble some discarded clothing over themselves there was no sound to suggest two mortified teens had realised they'd been caught fucking. In fact it sounded very much like somebody was crying. Marceline hurried to the back of the cave, following the noise. And that's where she found Victoria, alone and sobbing.

"Where's Finn?" she asked, still concerned with the location of her youngest son.

"A-at home. I told him and he left, s-said he could deal with- with-" the girl broke down again and Marcy crouched by her side, brow furrowed. If Finn was at home then who did the second heartbeat belong to? And then it hit her, she'd felt exactly the same thing very recently.

"No. Not you, too. Victoria, you're _seventeen_. You can't be, how did this happen? When?" she demanded in shock.

"I don't know. I told him about the b-baby and he left, he said he was too young to be a father. I don't know what to tell my Dad." the girl sobbed, throwing her arms around Marceline's shoulders and crying against her shirt. The vampire took a breath. And then another one because the first one hadn't calmed her at all. Right, focus on the problem in front of her, first of all. Victoria was carrying her grandchild, she was alone and terrified. Comfort the girl. She'd deal with Finn soon enough.

"It's going to be ok. I promise. You don't have to do this alone."

Once Victoria was calmed enough to go back to the fort with the advice not to say anything to Simon just yet Marceline took off for home, numb shock already giving way to a pure, overwhelming fury. Her son had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and then just _dumped her_? After all the effort they'd put into raising him to be a gentleman, after all the promises he'd made to be sensible and responsible and stay safe and not do anything risky. There was not a lot about the immediate future that Marceline was certain of but she knew one thing. Finn was going to be in some serious trouble when she got hold of him.


	6. Chapter 6

**ONWARDS! After the reveals in the last chapter there's only gonna be more drama, more action, more plot! I'm really enjoying writing this story, I hope you're enjoying reading it just as much. Drop me a review to let me know how you feel about it, I'd appreciate that a lot.**

 **OCs! Ahh! Yes, yes there are OCs. As ever the Foundlings universe is packed with them, but they do serve a purpose. This chapter we have a plethora of Grimmalks, remember those dudes? Welllll since I first introduced them waaay back in Foundlings I actually got around to playing Skyrim and realised they're kinda like Khajit. Ooops? But, whatevs, cat people are awesome whatever the universe. Prepare for more cat people in the future.**

 **As ever I want to thank my wonderful and beautiful girlfriend for all her help generally motivating me to write this story and just being awesome and supportive. She is the best.**

 **Content Warning: serious parental disapproval, arguments, Grimmalks, plot.**

* * *

"Dude, you are so dead." Phoebe breathed as she watched the tiny speck on the horizon grow larger, hurtling towards the tower window with all the speed of an enraged soon-to-be-grandmother.

"The deadest." Jake agreed morosely. Finn didn't reply, he'd gone white as a sheet and his lower lip was trembling ever so slightly. He reflected that it had been a pretty dumb move to assume he could walk away from Victoria and the looming problem of an unplanned baby without his parents finding out, dumber not to realise Mom would be following him and would know exactly where to look for him. Mama would be furious, she'd scream at him, she'd tell him what an idiot he was. Mom though...

Finn had always had a special relationship with his Mom. It wasn't that he didn't love his Mama too because he did but he'd known for longer than he could remember that Mom had rescued him, that she was special to him. Because they'd both been alone and then they'd found each other and learned how to be a family together before anyone else had been involved. He'd been told the story a thousand times, how Mom heard him crying in the candy forest and carried him home, washed him clean while he slept and made a cradle for him out of her own shirts, played with him all night, bought him his first real clothes and kept him safe from the demons who'd murdered his human father. Mom was everything safe in the world. Nothing could harm him when she was around to protect him, Finn had never once had to worry that she wouldn't be there for him.

Until now.

Now he was consumed by panic because what if she disowned him? There were still months until his eighteenth birthday, he'd legally still be a minor. She might make him go live at the orphanage or, he gulped at the thought, what if some stranger stepped in to adopt him instead and he had to go be someone else's son? What if she just took him to the forest where she'd found him and dumped him back there? And then he'd ran out of time to panic about it because she was landing in front of him, wreathed in cold blue flame with her eyes a deep blood red and fangs grown so long they barely fit inside her mouth. He'd never seen her so mad in his whole life.

 _"_ _FINN MERTERNS ABADEER HOW DARE YOU WALK OUT ON YOUR UNBORN CHILD-"_

"Mom, I can explain, please, it wasn't my fault, I-"

 _"_ _WASN'T YOUR FAULT? ARE YOU TELLING SHE FORCED YOU TO IMPREGNATE HER AGAINST YOUR WILL?"_

"No, but-"

 _"_ _NEVER IN ALL THESE YEARS HAVE I BEEN SO ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY SON, NEVER DID I THINK I WOULD RAISE SUCH A COWARD-"_

"I got scared!"

" _SCARED? YOU'RE SCARED? HOW DO YOU THINK VICTORIA FEELS, KNOWING THAT YOU RAN AWAY AND-"_

"Marcy? Finn? What the hell is going on in here?"

And that was the new complication that Marceline had been hoping to avoid until she'd figured out what to do. Bonnie was standing in the doorway of their tower lookout room frowning around at them all; Marceline's demon growling must have shaken half the palace and of course she'd come running to see what was wrong.

"Tell her, Finn. I'm done trying to clean up after you." Marceline snarled, although her voice had calmed back down to a mostly-human fury and her fangs had retreated back into her gums.

"I..." he looked down at his feet. "I... Mama... I can't..."

"Finn got his stupid ice girlfriend pregnant and then he dumped her and he thinks he can just walk back in here like nothing happened." Phoebe supplied helpfully.

For a moment there was absolute silence in the room, Finn could hear nothing but his own pulse loud and horrified in his ears. Then-

"Get out of my sight. Go to your room and stay there, Finn. But I can't look at you right now." his Mama said quietly. That was all wrong, why was Mom the one who exploded in anger and Mama the one who sounded like her heart was breaking with disappointment? It was like they'd switched roles but his feet at least weren't going to let him wait around and find out why; they automatically took him off to the staircase and along to his room while his brain was still reeling in shock.

For half a heartbeat Jake and Phoebe watched their younger brother slump from the room in defeat before Jake was tugging her along too and muttering some excuse about her helping check on the pups. That left Bonnie and Marceline alone, staring out at the sunset.

"You knew." Bonnie announced in a heavy voice. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. I was looking for a good time to tell you they were seeing each other, I didn't know about the pregnancy until about half an hour ago. The only reason I didn't tell you yet was because I didn't want to upset you, babe."

"Upset me? _Upset_ me? No, my royal tarts getting burnt or an experiment going wrong upsets me. Finding out my youngest son is expecting a baby with the girl I was tortured for and forced to create against my will? That goes a little deeper than being upset. Finding out my wife knew about it for Grod knows how long and didn't tell me? Can you guess how far past upset that makes me?"

"Babe, I-"

"No. Don't you dare interrupt me, Marceline. Not on this. I sacrificed my health and a good part of my sanity to keep Phoebe safe from that madman only to discover that she'd never been in danger. You sacrificed half of your honeymoon. It doesn't really compare. And I asked you to stay away from them and you didn't. Then I asked you to make sure the kids stayed away from them, and why am I even surprised when you failed to manage that too? And now this. And _of course_ it was Finn who got into trouble!"

"What the hell do you mean by that? Are you trying to imply that this is somehow my fault? Like mother like son, is that it?"

"Well if the shoe fits, Marcy! You've let him away with everything from the moment he could walk, I've always had to be the mean Mama while you got to be the one he ran to for kisses and cuddles and I had to discipline him! Of course he doesn't have any boundaries because you never set any for him! You can't just leave me to clean up all your parenting disasters just because you never had a real childhood!"

Marceline whirled on her wife, fury in every line of her body.

"Don't you talk about my childhood! What would you even know about being a child? You're a piece of sentient _food_ , you're not exactly winning mother of the year either. Maybe if you'd been a little less busy with your stupid experiments and actually spent some time with Finn he wouldn't be scared to tell you stuff, he's terrified of making you angry!" Marcy shot back furiously. It took a lot of effort to keep her voice from spilling back into a growl and she was just too damn worn down to deal with it more. Before Bonnie had a second to draw breath and answer she'd pushed into the air, transformed into a giant bat and swooped off into the twilight with a snarl.

"Fine! Just run away and leave me to fix it all for you then!" Bonnie yelled uselessly after her wife's disappearing silhouette. Marceline didn't slow down or turn or give any other indication that she'd even heard.

...

"Leave me alone." Finn growled when the door of his room opened. He was lying on his bed with his head under the pillow, he didn't even look around because he didn't care who it was.

"You missed dinner, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are your favourite. I could hear your stomach rumbling along the hall." a plumy voice announced. Peppermint Butler, then. Finn sighed and sat up reluctantly.

"I'm not hungry, Peps. Get out of my room."

Instead of listening to him, because nobody ever listened to him anyway Finn thought listlessly, the round striped candy man placed the platter of sandwiches on Finn's night stand and came to sit next to him on the bed.

"I hear congratulations are in order."

"I hear you can go fuck yourself. Dude, I can't be a parent, look at me. I can't even look after myself."

Instead of looking offended Peppermint smiled and regarded Finn fondly.

"Nothing is new under the sun. You sound just like Queen Marceline, you know, back in the day. She was so scared to be anything but your protector at first, she insisted she didn't know how to be somebody's mother and that you'd be better off being raised by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves than you would be with her. Was she right?" he inquired with a quirked brow.

"Mom said that? But... I thought she wanted me? She said I was her baby the second she picked me up." Finn whispered. He looked away, down at his shoes. Wow, so even Mom hadn't really wanted him.

"You misunderstand me, your little Highness. Your Mom wanted you very much, she was like a protective mother bear if anyone came near you without her permission. But she was so scared that she wouldn't be good enough, that she was biologically too young or just too inexperienced. She told me once that she considered just leaving you here with your Mama instead because she was only ever going to fuck you up."

"She was wrong." Finn said decidedly. "Mom's the best parent ever, even if she's so pissed at me right now she won't look at me."

"So if you could reach back in time sixteen years and talk to that lost, confused vampire staring at the abandoned baby in the forest, what would you tell her?" Peppermint pressed quietly.

"Not to be afraid. That I love her, that I've seen glimpses of the world where she's not my Mom and I don't want to live there. That if I could pick anyone at all to adopt me, it would be her. That I don't care if she looks forever nineteen or if all my school friends have a crush on her or if she wears crazy makeup. She's my _Mom_ , I'm always gonna love her. Mama too. That, they're just the best parents and the thought of them not being there for me... Oh." Finn stopped, and let all of that click into place. "Do you think if my baby could reach back in time sixteen years and talk to his confused, messed up father he'd say the same thing?"

"I'd hazard a guess that he might. I know one thing for certain though. If you bail on him now, before you've ever had a chance to see if you can be good enough, he's only ever going to say that he hates his father, or even worse, 'Finn who?'. I know you don't want that."

"I'm scared." Finn admitted quietly.

"I know. But if you never get scared how are you gonna have chance to be a hero?" Peppermint asked quietly.

Finn thought about that as he munched on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that had appeared in his hands without his noticing. He was scared. But he was a hero. And as scared as he was, wasn't Victoria gonna be even more scared? She didn't have the option of walking away from the pregnancy unless she decided to get an abortion and she'd already told him that she was going to keep their baby. Jake seemed to enjoy being a father and his own parents had nothing but good things to say about child rearing. Still, children were so messy and gross, and he couldn't go out doing dangerous hero work if he knew he'd be leaving a baby fatherless if he was killed. Then it occurred to him he was _already_ leaving a baby fatherless. Even his own criminal scum human father hadn't just walked away from him, he'd been trying to take Finn to the palace so Mama could protect him. Probably. It didn't matter, Finn realised.

"Will you do me a favour?" Finn asked Peppermint Butler, swallowing the last bite of sandwich.

"Anything." the little man replied happily.

"I'm gonna write an apology letter to Victoria, can you make sure she gets it?"

"It would be my pleasure."

Peppermint Butler waited while Finn penned a quick missive to his girlfriend, only letting out the silent breath of relief that he'd been half holding when the prince's back was turned. One down, two to go. Now he just had to make sure both of his mistresses were ok. If they weren't talking by dawn he'd have to intervene, but he'd give them the night. Peppermint Butler didn't want to have to micromanage the whole royal family if he didn't need to.

...

It was about an hour before dawn when Marceline landed noiselessly on the wide flat roof of the stable block and made her way quietly into the palace. As usual she'd needed the time flying to decompress and realise that true to form she'd been the one who'd fucked up, yet again. And more spectacularly than ever. Marceline got the feeling it would take more than a wildflower bouquet to make it up to her wife this time.

She let herself noiselessly in the bedroom after a quick search had revealed the study, library and laboratory to be deserted. There was Bonnibel, asleep upright in her chair facing the balcony with the curtains drawn; she must have waited up as long as she could. Another twist of guilt added itself to Marceline's already knotted insides.

"Bon." she said quietly, shaking her wife's shoulder a little. "Babe, wake up. Can we talk?"

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry."

"Oh. You came back." Bonnie replied sleepily, looking up at eyes that were almost the same shade of grey as her wife's skin in the gloom.

"Did you think I wouldn't? I'm sorry I had to get out. I needed to think. And you're right, this is all my fault and I'm sorry, I-"

"Shut up and come to bed. I thought about it too and what's done is done. Whoever's to blame it won't make Victoria any less pregnant. We do need to talk to Finn though, make him at least consider supporting her through this. And... I owe them both an explanation for how she came to be. I thought I could just leave it in the past but it won't do any good to keep it secret. Finn already found her, it's not like we're protecting him by keeping her from him anymore." Bonnie replied softly.

Marcy nodded, that made a lot of sense. She held her arms out cautiously and her wife allowed herself to be lifted effortlessly into the air and carried to the huge bed they'd shared for so many years now. Whatever Finn had done it wasn't worth risking their marriage over, they'd both independently come to that conclusion.

"You're suspiciously calm and healthy." Marcy noted as they were getting settled under the blanket together.

"Yeah, I need to thank Stefan. He's decided to take on my migraines permanently for now, I tried to argue him out of it but he's the most stubborn person I ever met. He's even worse than you." Bonnie replied, snuggling eagerly into the arms she'd been missing all night. What she'd needed more than ever was her wife by her side, united and backing her up. And she really blamed herself, what had she expected Marcy would do when she got yelled at?

"We can't afford to fall apart, babe. Can we put a moratorium on fights for now? Things are about to go insane enough without us being at each other's throats. And I don't know about you but I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this alone, I need you by my side if we're gonna get through this." Marcy whispered.

"You've always got me by your side, love. I made a vow, remember?" Bonnie lifted her left hand up between them and her silver wedding band gleamed a little in the low light.

Marcy sighed and hugged her wife closer. She was warm and soft, she was everything Marceline needed right then. More than anything, she felt like home. Soon enough there would be enemies at their gates and people would die and she'd be forced to take more lives from her own people. Rebels, yes. And murderers. But still her people, still the citizens she was tasked with leading and protecting. Some of them had even been her friends and lovers once upon a time, she had no doubt. And now her two worlds were colliding in the worst possible way. Her family and her new kingdom were at risk because she'd been too much of a coward to stay and let the rebels end her all those years ago. All she could do was try to weather the storm as best she could, hope that when it was all over the people she loved were still alive. In comparison to all of that Finn expecting his first child wasn't such a big deal, really. Marceline wondered why she'd even been angry except that it was a reaction to his childish abandonment of his girlfriend. She'd talk to him in the morning, she decided. And this time she'd keep her temper, make sure he knew he could talk to her about anything. Because the very worst thing was being at odds with Finn, it hurt even worse than arguing with Bonnie. He was her little boy and however big he grew she'd always see that same beautiful golden haired baby smiling gummily up at her from her lap when she looked at him. But he was a man now, soon he'd have a family of his own. She needed to come to terms with that and help him accept it, too.

"You think he'll marry her?" Bonnie asked, sleepy again now that she was back where she belonged in Marceline's arms.

"Perhaps, who knows? He's not the crown prince and Jake has heirs now and Firefly is older than him anyway; if it ever came to Finn's child inheriting the throne then something so big must have happened that I doubt there'd be a kingdom left to govern. So it makes no difference if they're born outside of wedlock, surely?"

"Hmm, not to us it doesn't. Ice King might see it differently though, the child would be second in line to the Ice Throne and he might care about things like legitimacy if he needed someone to inherit. Since we're all about to be invaded it's more of a worry than it used to be."

"True. Someone needs to tell him about the baby." Marcy sighed.

"I nominate you." Bonnie murmured in reply.

"You're all heart."

"Mhm. G'night."

...

Bonnie wasn't even surprised when morning brought more complications. It took a lot of courage for her to reach out and pluck the missive from the messenger's paws; even though he was crouched in a kneel with it held high above his head and his eyes fixed respectfully on the floor.

"My Darling Daughter and Daughter-In-Law," she read aloud, "I received your message about your impending invasion and am more than happy to open the Demon Dimension to any and all candy citizens who wish to flee until the danger has passed. In addition I am also sending you all the reinforcements I can spare, as well as my specialist demon forces. Please do not hesitate to ask if I can be of any further assistance, I will wait for your updates but if I do not hear from you weekly I will assume the worst and ascend above to discover what has happened and avenge you accordingly. Yours with love, The Prince Of Darkness, Lord Of The Flies, Ruler Of Demons, The Evil One, Father Of Lies etc etc Hunson Abadeer (Daddy)."

"Wow." Phoebe announced into the silence that followed. "We've got our own demon bodyguards. Cool."

"Rise." Bonnie commanded the messenger. He swept upright with lethal grace, flowing smartly to attention and snapping off a crisp salute. "What is your name and rank, soldier?"

"Gal'no Fullclaw, Second Captain of The Third Grimmalk Battalion." the messenger replied with a proud purr behind his words. "Herald and Messenger to First Commander M'iol Deservingblood. How may I be of assistance to their Royal Majesties today?"

"Take your battalion to the dungeons, you may garrison the lowest levels. Once your soldiers are settled in see my chief of staff, Peppermint Butler. Between you I want you to work out a guard rotation for the town's borders and the palace perimeter with extra cover at night." Bonnie commanded.

She kept her voice steady; it helped that this Grimmalk bore no particular resemblance to the one who'd mauled her all those years ago. His fur was a distinctly fluffier cloudy grey topped with a magnificent bush of whiskers and a huge luxuriant tail that fanned slowly like ostrich feathers as he moved. When he met her eyes briefly she could see the irises were more of a mossy green than unnerving gold. Still, there were two hundred Grimmalks armed to the teeth in her courtyard. It made her more than a little jumpy. They trooped to the side door leading to the dungeons in double file with surprising stealth; Bonnie knew that she was supposed to feel safer having Hunson's hand-picked elite forces to protect them but she wouldn't sleep soundly again until the only animal fur in her palace belonged to her elder son. That reminded her that she also had a younger unruly son to talk to and she scanned the courtyard for him but Finn's mane of shiny golden hair was nowhere to be seen. Probably still in his room sulking, she figured. Peppermint Butler had taken a breakfast tray up to him an hour ago, Bonnie hadn't felt able to talk to him just yet and besides she still had to deal with an avalanche of messengers from their allied kingdoms about the Grand Council meeting she'd called for that evening. Soon though, she needed to talk to him soon. Apart from anything else the child now growing in Victoria's womb was her grandchild, which made the ice girl family and she wasn't going to leave her family unprotected. As much as it brought bile to the back of her throat to think of it Bonnie would need to tell Finn and Victoria the truth about how the girl came to exist and her own shameful part in creating her. It wouldn't be an easy task and she was counting on Zoe consenting to help keep tempers calm while they spoke. With a quiet sigh Bonnie turned and headed indoors to the throne room, she had a court to hold and more messengers to answer.

She had barely gotten settled on her throne and called forward the messenger from Castle Lemongrab when a loud voice interrupted her.

"Mom! Mama! I've got something important I need to tell you!"

"Finn, sweetie, we're in the middle of some important business, can't it wait?" Bonnie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Hadn't she told him to stay out of her way until she sent for him? Maybe not but she'd thought he'd be smart enough to figure that out for himself anyway. But no, there he was striding up the length of the throne room while the muttering crowds parted for him. And Bonnie noticed that Finn was dressed in his holiday clothes, a quartered pink and black tunic bearing the family crest with his hair tied back in an elaborate Viking style braid and his dumb replica axe strapped ceremonially across his back. And he wasn't alone, there was a pale figure dressed in whites and blues following him. Bonnie's stomach jolted with recognition.

Finn dropped to a respectful kneel before his mothers' thrones and when he spoke it was with the ancient official protocol language used between royalty to prevent diplomatic incidents due to misunderstandings. He was every inch the perfect young prince bowing formally to older, more powerful monarchs that he had wronged and wished to make amends to. Bonnie shot Marceline a confused glance and her wife shrugged, she had no idea what was going on either.

"Your Royal Highnesses Queen Bubblegum, Queen Marceline, please accept my most humble apology for the unforgivable delay in presenting you to my paramour, Princess Victoria Petrikov. We seek your formal blessing to bring our unborn child into your kingdom and to shelter here from the threat currently menacing the kingdoms of Ooo. We also meekly request that the Ice Kingdom be officially allied with the Candy Kingdom and offer what assistance they can during the imminent war."

The room erupted; there were candy girls and a couple of candy boys sobbing into each other's arms because the rumours were true and Finn had a _pregnant girlfriend_ and they'd clearly missed their chance, there was Peppermint Butler shouting himself hoarse trying to calm the older members of the crowd who'd heard the word 'war' and reacted with tediously predictable panic and then there was the Lemon messenger shrieking that he was not to be ignored, he had an important message from the Earl that could not wait. Above all that noise and movement Finn rose from his bow and grinned sheepishly at his parents who smiled back.

"Well done, Finn." Marceline murmured, impressed with how he'd handled the situation. Looked like he'd finally learned how to make an entrance, anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

**We're back! And (hopefully) the email notifications are working again. I was not happy when the last two things I posted failed to trigger alert emails for you guys, I guess the website was buggy. But, fingers crossed, they've fixed that. You know the best way to let me know you got the update email? Drop me a quick review. I'd like that, a lot.**

 **OCs! Again! Like I said, this whole series is packed to the rafters with them. I guess if you're this deep into the third story then you don't mind too much though. Expect there to be exponentially more action coming in the next few chapters too.**

 **As ever, a huge amount of love to my wonderful and beautiful girlfriend, the lady I want to wife suuuuper hard and do lots of smooches with. Baby, I love you. *Smooches***

 **Content Warning: Reveals! Foreshadowing! Off-screen acts of war! Sneaking!**

* * *

The court were unceremoniously dismissed for the morning. Bonnie watched them file out with discontented grumbles and more than one jealous glare at Victoria. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, she could imagine only too well the agony Stefan must be in since he'd insisted on taking her pain from her and she was more grateful than she knew how to express.

"Follow me, both of you. We have much to discuss." she commanded Finn and Victoria before sweeping from her throne and heading to the small study tucked unobtrusively away in the corner behind the twin banners hung floor to ceiling behind their twin thrones. Marceline followed too after a moment's hesitation, Bonnie shot her a look and the vampire nodded. She knew what was being asked and she sent a message down her Sire Link to summon Zoe from Matilda's sick room; the blonde vampire barely ever left her lover's side and wouldn't thank them for disturbing her but even with Stefan's influence on her mind Bonnie didn't know if she was strong enough to relive Victoria's creation without further help.

"Please, take a seat. We'll be joined by your Aunt Zoe in a second." Bonnie murmured after a confirmation glance to Marceline who nodded ever so slightly.

Finn and Victoria sat together on a low ottoman and clasped hands nervously under Bonnie's direct gaze. She was aware that she was probably intimidating the younger girl with her stare but it was hard to draw her eyes away now that the dreaded day had finally come. Bonnibel hadn't ever thought she'd be able to avoid Victoria forever, sooner or later they'd meet and she'd have to explain herself. While they waited for Zoe to arrive Bonnie took the time to examine her handiwork closely. It was ironic that Victoria was one of her best creations.

The girl was beautiful, there was no denying it. She had a feminine, oval face with a slight point to her chin and high, angular cheekbones that added a more adult feel to her otherwise soft, adolescent features. Just as her father had demanded her eyes were an unnatural sapphire blue and glowed in direct light beneath the soft arch of her perfect brow. Her nose was straight and short, a petite slope that lead down to the flawless bow of full sensual lips in a gentle lavender colour that were parted ever so slightly from anxiety. Her whole magnificent face was framed by a generous mane of almost-cream blonde silken hair that flowed in glorious untamed waves across her shoulders and halfway down her back, gleaming in an unnatural way that left no doubt about her ice magic abilities. She was physically perfect in every way, so unnaturally exquisite that it was almost hard to look at her. Bonnie reflected that she'd bene naïve to think that Finn wouldn't notice the girl. Everything about Victoria had been designed to radiate an absolute ideal of beauty.

The door opened and Zoe entered, looking careworn and almost dull by comparison to Victoria's radiance. She floated across and nodded to them all; a feeling of utter serenity fell across the room and Bonnie felt her shoulders unclench for the first time that day.

"So. Victoria Petrikov. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I believe you've already met my wife?" Bonnie began, indicating Marceline who shot a small smile in return to Victoria's eyes flickering to her for a moment. The girl nodded.

"I used to think she was my fairy godmother when I was a kid." she replied softly, and even her voice was as perfect and clear as the chime of a silver bell.

"Perhaps she was. Victoria, did you never stop to wonder why Marceline came to see you from time to time? Why your father called her during the Bella Noche crisis?"

The girl's eyes widened in sudden excitement.

"Are you my Mom?" she blurted out, turning to Marceline with an expression of innocent hope on her face.

"No, Victoria. Mother-in-law, maybe, but not your Mom. I'm sorry." Marcy replied with a regretful shake of her head.

"But then, why did you come to check on me when I was young?"

"It's a long story. It started a thousand years ago, when I was just a kid. The Mushroom War had just happened, I was all alone and scared, and your father found me and rescued me. And that's where it gets complicated."

Victoria listened with wide, horrified eyes as the whole story unfolded. Finn held her hand silently, squeezing it to comfort her when she appeared overwhelmed. When Bonnie took over and described how she'd been kidnapped and tortured by the Ice King, how she'd feared for her daughter's life she whole time, Victoria's hands unconsciously flew to her own stomach and the tiny life growing there. That was good, Marcy decided. It was a maternal instinct and it probably meant the girl wasn't about to start screaming at Bonnie for how she was created or the circumstances around it. As much as she felt a sense of duty to the ice princess Marceline wasn't about to sit back and let someone abuse her wife simply because the world hadn't been how they wanted it to be. But Victoria took it all pretty well considering she'd discovered she was a child created from kidnap, torture and blackmail.

"I think I knew deep down that I didn't have some beautiful and mysterious mother waiting to meet me one day." she announced quietly when the story was finished. "But I have a creator, which... it's not the same thing though?"

"No, definitely not. I'm not your mother, Victoria. Not in any sense. Which I suppose is a good thing since you're in a relationship with my son and it would make things very awkward if you two were related." Bonnie added with a small smile. "So what we need to do now is decide what to do about this baby."

"I'm keeping it." Victoria immediately announced, frowning around like she expected them to rush her and somehow remove the embryo from her body by force. "I forgave Finn for running away, he got scared and I know how that is, but I'm not going to give away my baby or, or... kill it, or whatever. No. If he wants to be a part of their life-"

"I already said I did, babe." Finn interrupted.

"You also said you wanted nothing to do with it and you wanted me to get rid of it, I'm gonna need to see some actions to prove that you mean it." she replied with a scowl. Finn sighed and tugged his braid.

"Fine. I can do that, I'll prove it to you. I'm sorry I ran away."

"You said, and I appreciate the apology. But I'm still gonna be a little cautious about trusting you."

"I understand."

Finn's mothers exchanged a glance as the younger couple talked, both secretly glad that Victoria wasn't about to just let him away with running out on her. That was a good thing, he probably needed to be with someone who could call him out from time to time.

"Will you stay in the palace?" Marceline asked, drawing their attention back to her.

"Not for now, I want to be there for my Dad and I need to explain to him about the baby. I don't think he'll be mad but sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in, you know? I... I suppose it's because of the crown." she finished with a sad frown.

She left with an armed guard, just in case, because Bonnie wasn't taking any chances with the safety of her unborn grandchild or her newest family member. It would take a lot of getting used to but she thought she was beginning to quite enjoy Victoria's company, the girl had a spark to her personality and a hungry curiosity that Bonnie appreciated; it even reminded her a little of herself centuries ago when she'd been brand new in a strange world full of mysteries to discover.

"Can I go now?" Zoe asked quietly as the calm aura faded.

"Of course. How is Matilda?" Bonnie asked softly. The blonde vampire shook her head.

"Tired. She sleeps a lot, and she doesn't talk so much. I'm scared she blames me, you know, for what happened. I've gotta get back to her."

She swept from the room with slumped shoulders and a quiet despair in her face; once the calming Talent was gone Bonnie could feel the stress and panic beginning to spread through her again. There was too much to do and barely any time, she needed to do anything but be met at the door by a horrified looking Peppermint Butler.

"Your Highness, we have a... situation. There was an attack in the night, the refugees are arriving in the courtyard now to seek sanctuary."

Vampires. There was no need for him to say it because she already knew who must have attacked.

"Which kingdom?" she asked in a tight voice.

"Goblin City, your Highness. They were a soft target, the rebels simply strode in and killed anyone who they came across. They didn't know not to let them in, they had no idea. It looks like the rebels have garrisoned the city. We'll need to get some reconnaissance and see how many we're up against. Hundreds at least, by the witness accounts." Peppermint replied hurriedly.

"Send some of the Grimmalks then, they're all about stealth, right? We need to hurry forward this Grand Council meeting and find shelter for the survivors." Bonnie ordered. He hurried away to follow her commands and Marceline slid a cool hand into hers with a brief squeeze of solidarity. But there was no time for more comfort than that, the first blood had been drawn in the war and they were on the receiving side. Time to mount an offensive of their own.

...

"Wait!"

The four Grimmalks who had been about to be dispatched from the courtyard stopped and turned at the command, falling to their knees almost in unison when they saw who was addressing them. Lady Evil was not someone any demon ignored a summons from.

"Take these. Let me know when you return if you needed them or not." Marceline ordered, handing them four crossbows and an unusual bundle of bolts.

"Silver tips?" Gal'no asked in surprise. "What kind of trouble are you scared we'll run into?"

"Just... let me know if you need them." Marcy repeated with a frown. She wasn't keen on the necessity of speaking to fucking _Grimmalks_ either but she wasn't about to let them walk into a rebel held city unprepared even if she despised their species with a passion. Still, it had been four hundred years since she'd had direct contact with any rebels so perhaps things were different now. She hoped for their sakes that the silver wasn't needed.

The Grimmalks nodded and turned back to the road, strapping the crossbows to their shoulders and sashaying away with deadly grace. Marceline watched them go with a deep frown on her face.

"You really think they're still using the day-guardians?" a voice asked behind her. Marceline turned and found herself face-to-face with _another_ damn Grimmalk. She bared her teeth; they'd do well not to sneak up on her or generally be around the royal family in any way.

"It never hurts to be cautious." she replied through her fangs. One glance at his regalia revealed that this must be First Commander M'iol; a large, muscular cat with short dense orange-rust fur patched with the odd splash of snowy white and a deceptively soft face. She supposed that in Grimmalk circles he'd be considered very handsome, certainly he'd be quite the catch given his rank alone. But Marceline didn't know that much about Grimmalks beyond how to kill them, she'd never wanted to. Not after Ja'an.

"What are your orders, Milady?" the Commander asked with a smart salute. Marcy sighed, considering. If the rebels had established a garrison in Goblin City then they were within a night's flying from the Candy Kingdom and potentially the grasslands to the south.

"How many spare soldiers do you have who won't be on watch tonight?" she asked.

"Plenty, we're not expecting to use more than half our forces in rotation on the palace and the town." M'iol replied confidently.

"I want teams of five from the rest, out patrolling the grasslands. Arm them with stakes, crossbows, and garlic along with their standard issue weaponry. And dispatch a team down to the cabin on the shore of Lake Butterscotch to retrieve Betty Groff, if the vamps catch the scent of a human they'll come from miles around. She's in just as much danger as Prince Finn and she doesn't know it yet. And if you still have spare troops we'll need extra security for the Grand Council meeting, they'll be arriving soon. I'm sorry it's short notice."

He simply nodded and saluted again before springing away to follow her commands. As much as she despised Grimmalks there was no denying that they were the final word on organisation. As M'iol hurried away a carriage pulled into the courtyard, she immediate recognised the entire Slime royal family as they disembarked. Hot on their heels came the Duke of Nuts and his children, then the King and Queen of Lumpy Space. So they'd gotten the messages about the meeting being moved forward, at least. Marceline hurried forward to receive their guests and hurry them safely into the meeting hall.

"Marceline, it isn't true is it?" Slime Princess asked the moment she approached.

"I'm sorry, SP. There are rebel vampires roaming Ooo, they overran Goblin City in the early hours. We need to fortify your kingdom, you're closer to them than we are." Marceline replied with a sigh, eyes downcast beneath her sunhat.

"Let them come. We don't have blood for them to drink so they're not going to find any food in our kingdom, and we have plenty of troops. I can't see them getting far past our defences." she replied confidently.

"Don't underestimate them, it's the last thing you'll ever do. They're cunning and savage. SP, your people are in danger just for existing. They won't just kill for food, they'll do it for sport. Just... please take every precaution you can. You know you can trust me though, right?"

"With my life, Marceline. We'll show ourselves inside, I know the way. Look after yourself. And your wife, we all know how Bubblegum gets when she's stressed."

Marcy watched Slime Princess and her younger sister out of sight before turning to greet the Duke of Nuts and exclaim over how much his two boys had grown. Little Brazilliam was almost as tall as his older brother Macadamien, the young Marquis of Nuts. They were immediately sent to the children's room where Viola, Charlie and Jake Junior were playing under the watchful eyes of their older brothers. Then the King and Queen of Lumpy Space were received and directed into the palace as more and more guests arrived. The Grand Council meeting would probably run well into the night so they'd be playing host to the Royalty of Ooo until dawn when it would be safe for them to leave. Marceline just hoped the rebels hadn't gotten wind of their emergency meeting or the leaders of the whole of Ooo would be in danger. But nowhere seemed safer than the Candy Palace, at least for now. She could only keep watch and hope they remained uninterrupted until morning.

...

Darkness fell and the Grand Council meeting continued. The Grimmalk guard changed rotation and as the day shift were busy being relieved by their colleagues nobody noticed a slender grey shape slip away from the palace and hurry off to that same spot in the candy forest where an exposed outcrop of rock bore a strange circular pattern, almost like it had been melted by some massive heat and then left to cool. By the time intense, bright light flared around the rock an hour later nobody was looking in that direction and the lesson could continue undisturbed.

His name was Yrran and he was bored. Patrolling the empty courtyard of the Candy Palace was not the detail he thought he'd be assigned to as Gal'no Fullclaw's personal assistant. But the Captain and his team hadn't returned from reconnaissance and weren't expected until the morning at the very earliest so Yrran had been roped into guard duty. He was still salty about being treated like some common foot soldier when he was a scribe and scholar, a personal assistant to the captain himself.

If a Grimmalk had one particular element that they felt most at home in, it was darkness. Yrran's sharp eyes scanned the deserted courtyard from his hiding place halfway up a wall beneath some overhanging ivy. Even another Grimmalk would struggle to spot him. Yrran had had more than enough practice at hiding from the other demon kids growing up, he knew how to avoid being noticed. He shivered as a breeze cut through his hiding place and wished for the thousandth time that night that he hadn't been too ashamed to pull on one of the fleece sweaters he'd brought; it was bad enough having no fur without his fellow soldiers laughing themselves stupid at his outerwear. Tomorrow he'd wear it and rip the throat out of anyone who so much as grinned at him, he was the _captain's_ assistant, the average dumb infantry had no reason to even meet his damn eyes let alone make fun of him. He'd clawed his way up from the lowliest of beginnings and Yrran wasn't about to be disrespected by the kind of grunts they'd recruited just to make up numbers.

His yellow eyes narrowed at the tiniest flicker of light slipping silently around the corner of the building below him. Someone was trying to sneak into the palace. Yrran's heartbeat began to race; this was the sort of action he'd been itching for. His claws unsheathed silently and his whole being quivered like an arrow tip towards the movement. He knew that he should alert his captain, it was what he was trained to do. But Yrran worked alone. He'd only joined up with the Third Grimmalk Battalion as an excuse to visit the grasslands he'd heard so much about, perhaps meet his hero Lady Evil. Instead of sending the signal for aid he bunched his muscles silently and resisting the instinctive urge to wiggle his butt in anticipation. Any second now, the almost invisible figure would be within range-

He pounced fast as a snakebite, landing with all four paws full of razor sharp claws pressed bodily against his prey, letting out a little chatter of excitement when he felt her struggle against him. And it was a she, her scent told him that. Female, around his own age, she smelled like wood fires and old books and she was so amazingly _warm_. Almost feverish. As they landed in a tangle together on the courtyard floor with a pained grunt her hood was thrown back and Yrran shrunk away from the unexpected glare of blue light.

"Get off me or I will boil your blood in your veins!" she hissed against his ear.

"Try it and I'll open your throat and see what colour your life runs out." he snarled back. "Nobody gets in or out of the palace, by order of the queens."

"By order? The queens are my _mothers_ you doofus. Get off me, now."

He rolled to one side, still breathing heavily and ready to pounce again if the strange blue fire girl tried to run. Instead she shot him a dark glower and fished a pendant out from under the dark grey robes that had been almost completely covering her flames. She held up a small light blue stone on a thin golden chain, glinting in the light of her fire.

"That's a Royal Gem!" Yrran accused. "Where the hell did you get that? Did you steal it from the princess?"

"My mother gave it to me when I was a baby. Because she's the queen? And I am the princess. And you're a moron, apparently."

Yrran was about to do- something, he wasn't sure what. Stare at her in shock or apologise and grovel or leap on her again accuse her of being an imposter, he hadn't quite decided yet. But before he could arrange his thoughts in order a black shape dropped silently out of the air overhead and wrapped their arms protectively around the girl, suddenly his world was filled with razor sharp fangs and furious hissing.

"Get away from my daughter, Grimmalk!" the newcomer snarled. Yrran immediately dropped into a deferential bow, claws retracting hard back into his paws, shivering with the shock of hearing that terrible voice.

"My apologies Lady Evil, I was just escorting her safely inside the palace." he murmured to the ground, bent so low his whisker stubs almost brushed the paving stones.

"Keep to your watch and do not come near her or me again or I will turn your guts into violin strings." the dark haired queen hissed, before swirling away and lifting the flame girl bodily from where she still sprawled on the floor. As they swept off back into the building he heard the start of what was probably going to be a long parental lecture.

"Mom, I'm not a kid, you don't need to-"

"What were you thinking, Phoebe? There are _vampires_ out there, they would just love the opportunity to abduct you! I thought you were the sensible one, after everything we've been through with your brothers, you just wait until your Mama hears about this..."

They disappeared into the palace and Yrran stared after them, rubbing his paws distractedly. That girl had been so warm, and she was the princess? And Lady Evil's adopted daughter, he'd heard about her if he thought about it. Princess Phoebe, as beautiful as she was clever, the powerful and mysterious foundling taken from imprisonment in the Fire Kingdom as just an infant. He shivered again and shook his head, returning to his hiding place under the ivy contemplatively. For the rest of the night he distractedly wondered about blue flames and burning eyes, feverishly warm skin against his paws.

...

Mom wasn't going to interrupt an emergency Grand Council meeting to tattle on her and Phoebe knew it. And Marceline knew she knew and was pissed about it but also had no intention of adding to Bonnie's burden of stress by informing her that their daughter had been sneaking around in the middle of the night. So in the end she lectured Phoebe for a while then ordered her to bed tersely before returning to her watchful hover over the palace grounds. Phoebe watched her go from the staircase window before she turned on her heel and skipped quietly back down the stairs and along the deserted corridors to the library. There she went about gathering an armful of books about physics, thermodynamics and military strategy. Phoebe had a plan. She'd been thinking about it on the ride back on Garm and she was completely certain it would work brilliantly. Mostly. At least eighty per cent certain, anyway.

As an afterthought she paused and turned back to the towering shelves of books before hurrying across to the section on anatomy and psychology. After a few minutes of searching she added a heavy tome titled _Cats Of The Underworld: Inside The Mind Of The Grimmalk_. She then fled to her bedroom before anyone else could catch her and began reading by the light of her own flames. The physics books confirmed what she'd already suspected, what she'd spoken to Daven about that night. The thermodynamics books were just to make sure she hadn't missed anything and she was pleased to see that she hadn't. She tried to focus on military strategy but her eyes kept sliding to the book about Grimmalks and in the end Phoebe found herself opening it curiously and almost immediately being absorbed by the text. Even the introduction was fascinating and it didn't really go into much detail, it was just an overview of the history of cat demons and their interactions with the surface world.

 _Of all the demons to walk the Nightosphere none are so deadly nor so misunderstood as the Grimmalk. Part apex predator, part adoring kitten, a Grimmalk possesses the potential for a full range of cat-like behaviour. Their reputation is fearsome and well deserved but there is a lot more to these magnificent creates than meets the eye._

 _Little is known of the origins of this fascinating species although they are hypothesised to be descended from the ancient offspring of human mortals and elder demons shape-shifted into the form of great cats, particularly the ancient 'grods'_ _Tezcatlipoca and Bastet. Little is known of these pre-Mushroom War deities except that they occurred independently across the ancient world and clearly show Grimmalk-like qualities._

 _It is true that Grimmalks retain many cat-like behaviors whatever their origin; from their single minded hunting drive to their often misunderstood courtship and affection rituals. Many scholars have noticed the almost perverse appeal of poor opinion to a Grimmalk's affection. There is no more certain way to attract their romantic interest than to show them indifference or even distain. And yet despite this reputation a bonded Grimmalk is often bonded to their mate for life; however this bond should not be mistaken for any guarantee of fidelity as a Grimmalk female in heat will seek out any available male if her mate will not oblige her carnal needs. Fights over mates and parentage are common and can be fatal._

Phoebe yawned and tried to focus on her book but the words were beginning to blur into one long streak so she put it to one side reluctantly and lay down in her bed. The book had said nothing about Grimmalks with no fur and piercing eyes, about why they might wear a thin blue metallic earring high in one long ear or why their paw pads felt like the softest fine leather against her skin. She fell asleep with the information from the introduction to the Grimmalk book still running through her head; that the best way to engage a Grimmalk's affection was to show him indifference and distain. Maybe by calling him a moron, perhaps that would do it, Phoebe reasoned as she slid onto the wrong side of sleep. She dreamed of deep purring and a direct, unblinking yellow gaze assessing her.

At first light there were hands shaking her awake and Phoebe shoved them away moodily. She hadn't slept for more than a few hours and she really didn't want to be woken for no reason.

"Up you get, your little Highness." Peppermint Butler's unwelcome voice announced. "All hands on deck, the Queen has summoned everyone down to the breakfast room."

"Huh? Wh'v I gotta go?" Phoebe mumbled grumpily.

"Because your mother says so and you are the princess, she wants to know you're safe and close by."

"Mama's dumb and overprotective, tell her I'm sleeping in." Phoebe replied, closing her eyes again and trying to pull the blankets over her head. She snarled angrily when her mother's annoying little butler pulled them away again.

"Your _other mother_ , little Highness. Queen Marceline has summoned everyone, she insists you be brought directly to her."

Phoebe opened her eyes and frowned at him, Mom was summoning her at the break of day? Why? Almost as if he could read her mind Peppermint Butler added;

"We have visitors. There is a contingent of vampires loyal to your mother in the breakfast hall and she is going to assign you a personal bodyguard."


	8. Chapter 8

**Yassss chapter eight, I'm super excited with this one! And worried because in true Foundlingsverse form I have inserted not one, not two, but three whole OCs. I mean. I pretty much have to invent a whole vampire species, right? At least these will be pretty much the last OCs at least for a while, there's one more (Garrett) who is mentioned here but won't be in the story proper for a little while.**

 **The next chapter will be action heavy, I promise! But this is chock full of vampire lore, backstory and badassery. Which are good too, right?**

 **Content Warning: donked names, injuries, reveals, historical off screen character death, badassery.**

* * *

Phoebe had never seen so many vampires together in her life and the affect was... She struggled to get her head around what she was seeing. From a very young age she had been aware that vampires together in groups could be mesmerising, she'd stared at her aunts and mother dancing together plenty of times trying to follow the impossible grace of their movements. But this was something else again, it was like the illustrations from her books had come alive.

The three clearly leading the others were standing in the middle of the room almost glowing. Every eye in the court was turned to them, two men and a woman, and around their feet crouched other vampires who seemed duller, less present somehow. Through the glaze of unwilling admiration thrust onto her mind Phoebe realised they must be the newcomers' lineage, too far below anyone's notice to even stand before their Queen. And that felt wrong, it twisted up something inside her to see anyone cringing on the floor like that. They must be Old Blood, she figured. Mom had told her bits and pieces about them over the years, that they treated lineage like slaves and expected the whole world to worship them just because they'd bitten someone.

"My daughter, Princess Phoebe." Marceline announced, gesturing to her when she saw the flicker of blue flames in the doorway. Instantly every eye in the room was fixed towards her and Phoebe swallowed nervously. What to say to a room full of vampires?

"Sure, I see the resemblance." one of the men spoke, but it was with a voice more feminine than Phoebe had expected. She looked much more closely and realised she was actually looking at a muscular woman with mousy hair cut short and slicked back flat against her skull and a distinctly masculine look to the dungarees and plaid shirt combination she was rocking. Her lower arms and throat were covered in what looked like professional paintings all over her skin and there was a sharp metal spike thrust through one of her eyebrows. The boyish looking woman smiled slyly and looked intently at Phoebe with sharp blue-grey eyes for a second before she spoke again. "Yes, I am female. All woman, hot stuff. Just ask your Mom."

"Elliot." Marceline snapped. "We just finished talking about this."

"You read my mind." Phoebe blurted, still blindsided from the sudden waking and then being thrust unexpectedly into a group of strangers.

"You didn't think Stefan owned the copyright on that, did you?" the woman called Elliot asked, still smiling in that slightly unnerving way. Stefan's eyes were locked onto her muscular back and his face wore an expression that was part frustration and part anger. It looked strange on his usually friendly face; Phoebe was definitely going to ask her uncle about that the moment she could get him alone.

"Enough. I want to know the Queen's battle strategy." the man who was definitely a man growled. He had a pointed beard and mustache, dark curls falling to his shoulders from a receding hairline and a thin, pinched looking face that gave him the impression that he never smiled.

"Soon. Let me get the introductions out of the way. Phoebe, darling, this is Elliot Bysshe, she's an old friend of mine and she's going to be staying with you for now, so there's always someone I trust close by even when I have to be someplace else. I've known her for a very long time." Marceline added, turning to her daughter.

"Like the poet." Phoebe said a little numbly.

"Yeah. Like the poet Lord Bysshe Shelley." the woman nodded.

"And my ward?" the man interrupted again, glowering around at them all like he was personally offended by Finn not being out of bed yet.

"Here." Peppermint Butler announced, trailing back into the room behind Phoebe with a sleepy looking Finn in tow. "Prince Finn Mertens Abadeer, may I present to you your bodyguard, Safe-Deliverance Johnson."

Finn stared, mouth open.

"Dude, your name is whack." he muttered in confusion after a long second. Safe-Deliverance Johnson looked like he was about to transform and eat the boy where he stood, Marceline looked like she should have realised Finn was going to say something like that and Stefan, Phoebe noticed, wasn't even looking at them. He was still staring at the woman called Elliot with a hard, angry look on his face and his teeth bared ever so slightly. But clearly her Mom trusted the newcomer, so Phoebe herself wasn't in any danger from her. Right?

"I am the first son and heir of Search-The-Scriptures Johnson, the finest lawyer and lay-preacher in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I am a descendant of the dissenters and greatest thinkers of fair England's nobility and I am over a millennium and a half old, child! Do not think to mock my heritage or-"

"Johnson. Quiet." Marceline commanded, and to Finn's surprise the man's hard jaw clicked shut with an audible snap although he still looked like he had a whole book of weird history junk he wanted to rant about. "Finn, for Grod's sakes, be polite. Johnson's family were Puritans. His name is a source of immense pride for him."

"Kay." Finn shrugged, making a mental note to ask Betty later what the hell a Puritan was and why they had donked names.

"My Queen." a soft, accented, feminine voice drew their attention back to the third leader of the group. She was drifting behind the others and partly hidden by them until she spoke. Finn and Phoebe both caught their breath; the second woman was like nobody either of them had ever seen before.

The first thing that they saw was that her skin, while still with that same deathly grey sheen that they associated with the undead, was a deep, rich ebony that looked smoother and softer than anyone else in the room. Her face was round and fiercely beautiful, her wide eyes almost so dark they didn't appear to have any iris at all. The woman's hair hung across her shoulders in long, thin braids finished with tiny gold and silver beads that glittered as she moved and she was wearing a deep green dress cut to cling to all of her magnificent curves. What Elliot lacked in femininity this woman made up for twice over.

"Can I swap with Jake?" Finn breathed, staring at her.

Marceline ignored him and turned back to the three Old Blood before her.

"My eldest son, Jacob, is with his family. He has young daughters so he won't be attending for now. Nia, Stefan will show you the way."

The magnificent Sire gestured to the two women crouched at her feet, just as dark skinned and inhumanly beautiful as her, and they folded further down into a seated position on the floor to wait for their mistress' return. She followed a reluctant Stefan as he swept past Finn and Phoebe but stopped and turned back to them, examining Finn's axe curiously. He'd taken to carrying it around everywhere he went just in case of attack.

"May I?" Nia asked softly. Finn just nodded, not even sure what he was being asked, and she reached out and pressed the palm of one impossibly soft hand against the flat of the red enameled blade. A look of intense concentration passed her face and Phoebe was in no doubt that the other woman was using her Talent, whatever that might be. Then she nodded, dark eyes open and full of a savage delight.

"This axe... yes, it has not tasted blood yet. But it will. Blood of mortals and ashes of our kind. It is a well-chosen weapon for the son of the White Queen." she murmured softly before she turned back to follow their uncle away down the hall. Finn watched her go with his mouth half open.

"Can she see the future?" he whispered to his sister, who just shrugged. These new vampires were nothing like the ones they'd grown up with, that was for sure.

...

"You girls be good for your grandparents, ok? Look after your Mom and don't fight, don't forget how much Daddy loves you. I'll see you soon." Jake sniffled, hugging all three of his daughters as close as physically possible. Lady lay her head lovingly on his shoulder too, nuzzling against the soft fur and breathing in her husband's unique, comforting scent. It was a hard decision to take the girls away to stay in the Crystal Dimension with her parents but she was taking no chances with their safety. Kim and TV were staying and so was Jake, she understood his decision but it didn't make leaving him behind to face down an army of bloodthirsty vampires any easier. But Jake had known, they'd both know when they'd made the decision to start a family, that the pups came first. He was the crown prince and nothing would change that, he had to stay for his parents. And their daughters were still so young. They needed to be protected and enjoy their hard won childhood somewhere that wasn't ravaged by war.

"I love you." Lady whispered into his ear, squeezing her eyes tightly closed to prevent any traitorous tears leaking out past her control.

"I love you too. We'll see each other again real soon, baby. And you've got the girls with you, you'll be fine." Jake's whispered voice had a rough edge to it that told his wife everything she needed to know. He was fighting back tears too.

The whole family embraced for another long moment before Jake reluctantly let go and allowed his brother and sister and then their mothers to say goodbye too. Lady pressed one long, desperate kiss to his lips before turning away so that he wouldn't need to see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes and with a wave to the assembled royal family they teleported away to a chorus of "Bye, Daddy!" from the girls. Jake's raised paw wavered in the air for a long moment after they left until he felt a slim arm encircling his shoulders. Mama, he'd know her anywhere.

"They're going to be safe." Bonnie murmured reassuringly, pulling her eldest son into a hug.

"I know. I'm not scared anything will happen to them. I'm scared they'll come back and find I'm someone else." Jake admitted quietly. "Wars change people. I don't want to be a stranger to them."

"You'll always be their Jakey. Come on, sweetie, come have some lunch."

Nia floated along after them, silent and watchful, dark eyes flickering around them as though she expected rebel assassins to burst out from every shadow. Lady Rainicorn had been very reserved with her but the children had immediately loved her, sat in her lap and demanded stories in a way that spoke volumes about their relationship with their grandmother. TV and Kim were both men grown but retained that innocence in their faces, she knew at a glance that neither had ever taken a life or even considered doing so and that was without even needing to use her Talent. And Jacob himself... her prince was a reluctant hero and she sensed in him a reticence about his place in the world and the expectations on his shoulders. But a determination too, Jake would not back down from the killing blow if he felt it was justified. That was good, Nia decided. He would need that resolve to survive what was to come.

As Jake and the Candy Queen ate in companionable silence Marceline drifted around the room with a bowl of strawberries for her undead guests. Johnson was off somewhere reluctantly attempting to get to know his ward and the boy's ancient human tutor somehow pulled from the past and Elliot had disappeared with Princess Phoebe to do... something. It was none of Nia's business who the queen assigned where but she would have put the androgynous young vampire anywhere except around impressionable and innocent youths. Elliot was loyal to a fault, firm in her convictions and still deeply traumatised and messed up from the circumstances surrounding her own Turning. That wasn't unusual among vampires but Nia had seen with her own eyes the death and terror that had been visited on the human world at the time Elliot had become one of them, she understood intimately how witnessing the agonising deaths of so many close friends could break a person. Elliot was more broken than any other vampire she knew, more broken than poor abused Matilda and even more broken the Queen herself. A vampire's Talent was linked to the deepest desire of their soul when that Talent had manifested and the fact that their Queen's deepest desire was to bring back those that had passed away spoke volumes about how the Mushroom War had affected her. And she was still less damaged than Elliot, in Nia's opinion.

"You know, sometimes I wish I had Elliot and Stefan's gift." Marceline's voice interrupted her musings. "You look like the weight of the world is on you."

"And you look like you have forgotten who and what you are." Nia replied calmly. She turned her dark gaze onto her queen's eyes and considered what she would say. Perhaps she should be the one to address what had puzzled them all from the moment they'd arrived. "You are undead. You are immortal. And you surround yourself with these mortals and your golem wife. Humans age and die, Marceline. I have seen it too many times, as I would think you had also. And here you are playing mother to one, to a dog and a flame child also. Your heart will pay the price when they journey into the shadow world where you cannot follow. And we will still be here, still waiting for our queen to fully accept that she is one of us now."

It was harsh but Nia knew it was what her queen needed to hear. Because they were almost completely dead and it was one of the most fundamental truths of nature that the living and the dead were held separate, that their worlds should not mix. She would do everything in her power to spare her queen from the inevitable heartbreak if she could. Marceline was staring at her with hard eyes and a thin lipped frown on her face.

"I know you mean well, Nia. But what would you have me do, bite Finn and Turn him like you did to your daughters? I know I'll outlive them all, I knew that the moment I accepted them as family. It's a price I'm willing to pay. I never wanted to be a vampire or a queen, I never wanted any of this. If I could pass the crown to someone else don't you think I'd have done it? All I need from you is your loyalty and your help to defeat Estelle, then you and your lineage can go back across the sea and leave me in peace. For now I want to have lunch with my wife and son and try to decide how we'll launch a counter attack with barely any troops and Grod only knows what defences."

"I saw their boats as they crossed, not everyone was with them. There are plenty who'd follow you if you were the leader they wanted you to be." Nia added. If she couldn't get the queen to face her responsibilities head on then she could at least persuade her to lead her people for now.

"I need to know numbers, Nia. How many Old Blood? How many lineage? Thralls? What are they eating, what weapons do they have?"

"Old Blood... probably no more than a hundred or so, and fewer of them are ancients. They hate Estelle even more than they hated you, you at least respected the way we conducted ourselves even if you debased yourself with your own lineage. But she won't be anywhere without her man Garrett, she lies with her own lineage and dotes on him like a pet, she refuses to settle differences in the old way, she has put to death so many ancients and Old Blood simply for questioning her. Until your girls came back having your crown was proof enough of her rule and too many people believed her without question. Now? She's claiming that you are an impostor, that the true Marceline was killed that night at the Citadel. As for food, she's brought a herd of enthralled semi-humans with her. She knows about your human boy and she wants him as breeding stock, she'll enthral him in half a second if she gets the chance. And there's something else you should know, her man Garrett, he's-"

"Second Captain Gal'no Fullclaw!" Peppermint Butler's loud and panicked announcement had then all turning and staring at the door where two Grimmalks bore the injured captain between them on a stretcher. Marceline made towards them but Bonnie was faster.

...

The royals of the Grand Council were leaving as the Grimmalk scouting party returned to the palace that afternoon with Gal'no carried between two of his soldiers on a makeshift stretcher. He snarled at the curious guests as they stared at his wounds and lashed his tail in anger; it was no longer a huge bush of luxurious fur but patchy and matted with blood. He had no time to stop and clean himself or tend to his wounds, his brief paw wash before he was carried into the throne room would have to do and he growled as much at his bearers when they tried to make for the dungeon instead of into the palace proper.

"Take me to Lady Evil, you fools."

It came out too high pitched from pain and Gal'no snarled again in frustration and agony. The beasts had bitten deep, he might succumb to his wounds before he had the opportunity to save her life in return.

"Second Captain Gal'no Fullclaw!" Peppermint Butler announced hurriedly as they shouldered their way past yet _more_ damn vampires on the way into the room. Lady Evil and her sweet wife were speaking with their advisers and were taken by surprise, hurrying from their seats in open shock when they saw the deep rips and puncture marks in Gal'no's arms and chest.

"What happened?" the Candy Queen gasped in horror, eyes full of sympathy despite her well known terror of their species. The soldiers stopped and allowed Gal'no to carefully roll off the stretcher and find his paws; he made his way forward with a fierce limp and sank gratefully into a deep kneel before her. To his shame his legs shook violently beneath him and instead of rising at her command he tipped forward with a mewl and landed in an agonized heap at the queen's feet. The bloodied tip of a broken silver crossbow bolt fell from his paw as he struggled to right himself. A moment later the Candy Queen herself was crouched by his side, shouting for the palace doctor and water to clean his wounds with. He reeled back before she could touch any of the infectious bites though; perhaps she wasn't human enough to be at risk from it but Lady Evil would never forgive him if he infected her wife with the corruption.

"Day guardians." Gal'no gasped between shallow breaths. "We saw, more than anyone thought, _hundreds_ , urgh-"

He shuddered and reached for his neck, yanking free a ripped out fang that one of the beasts had left in his flesh.

"That's no vampire fang." the Candy Queen murmured, staring down at the bloody paw he held out to show her. "Marcy? What are day guardians?"

And then his mistress was before him too, Lady Evil herself, the woman he now owed his life to. Without her silver tipped bolts he'd be halfway along a dozen beasts' intestines by now, he was sure of it.

"I was scared of this. It was full moon last night, wasn't it? Did they find you before moonset?" she asked, face grim as she plucked the fang from his paw and examined it. She was already functionally dead, she was at no risk of infection at least and Gal'no let his paw fall uselessly back by his side. He shook his head.

"As we were heading home. Ambushed. Lost Mil'wa, she was fierce. Took down six of them tooth and nail before they managed to even the score. There were vampires with them, taunting them. I-" he paused to cough and was alarmed to taste blood in his throat, had one of the day guardians punctured his lung or was his neck that badly torn?

"Taunting them? Are they... but they're willing volunteers, allies. Why would the rebels taunt them?" Lady Evil was asking, brow furrowed. Gal'no shook his head weakly.

"Silver whips. Driving them. Said they knew what they had to lose." he mumbled. "Slaves, I think. I..."

But it was too hard to keep focussing on her face, it felt like he was staggering backwards down a long tunnel. Who'd turned out the lights? And what was that loud rushing noise in his ears? Maybe the wind, he thought distantly. Rushing past him as he fell into the blackness.

Marceline's hands managed to blur forwards and catch the captain's head before he could bounce it off the polished marble of the floor but he was unconscious before he even finished his sentence. It wouldn't have done them much good even if he'd stayed awake because at the same moment Dr Princess hurried forwards and stared ordering the Grimmalk soldiers standing to attention to load him back onto the stretcher and follow her to the makeshift sickroom.

"Doctor." Marceline called, drawing the woman's hard gaze before she could leave again. "Use examination gloves. He's been bitten by an infectious animal."

Dr Princess nodded back and pulled a pair of blue examination gloves from her pocket before she followed the two uninjured Grimmalks.

"Silver tips." Bonnie murmured, crouching further down to examine the crushed bolt Gal'no had dropped. "Silver. Always silver. Your crown was silver, wasn't it? Our wedding bands are silver. Your axe is edged in silver plating, even your armor has a silver based enamel on the surface. Silver. What are you so scared of, what does silver repel?"

"It was always just a precaution, you know? They've not been in Ooo for four hundred years, just a little less than I've been here." Marceline murmured, staring after the disappearing back of the doctor.

"What haven't? These day guardians?" Bonnie demanded. Her wife finally turned and met her gaze with eyes that contained so much ancient trauma that they looked every one of their thousand years.

"Werewolves." she said softly. "They have werewolves to guard them through the day. It was just a few dozen at first, four hundred years ago during the first rebellion. Gal'no said there were thousands now though... _fucking werewolves."_

"But there haven't been werewolves in Ooo in forever, there were barely any here to begin with." Bonnie gasped, staring at her wife in horror.

"They went extinct in Ooo about five months after I came here. The last one placed his head on the block gladly and thanked me for releasing him from his curse." the vampire replied. Her expression was harrowed, eyes unfocused as she looked four hundred years into the past to her last mercy killing. Marceline the vampire hunter had died on the fangs of the Vampire King a thousand years before. But Marceline protector of humans had still been fulfilling her oath six hundred years after that night, still hunting down the dangerous monsters that preyed on the innocent whenever she heard rumours of an isolated attack. Bonnie slid her arms around her wife's shoulders and drew her into a tight embrace, trying to pull her back to the present and away from those torturous memories.

...

"Elliot."

She turned at the icy voice and grinned hugely at Stefan; she'd been hoping he'd come find her and they could have at it.

"Stefan Ulrich AndersJohannes Hallvard the Younger, with a name as long as an Arctic winter. Look at you, all sour and protective. Come to check I'm not opening a side door for Estelle and her cronies?" she cooed delightedly.

"Uncle Stefan?" Phoebe asked, looking between them in confusion.

"Get behind me, Firefly. Your mother was wrong to trust her." he growled. His eyes never left Elliot's grinning, taunting face.

"He's all scared because he can't go skinny dipping through my brain." Elliot informed the princess smugly. "Can't read the mind of a mind reader, can you Stefan? Can't know what I might be plotting, can't see if I'm as good and loyal as I say I am. Don't know what I might have _seen_ -"

"You shut your damn mouth!" Stefan growled, advancing threateningly.

"Or what? You'll rip my head off and blame it on the rebels?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh, I have every idea. Good, loyal, faithful Stefan. Who'd never take a life unless it was for noble reasons, who's loyal to his man, loyal to the queen, but such a jealous lover-"

He was paler than ever, eyes wide and horrified, shaking with rage. Phoebe had never seen her uncle like that; he'd never been less than perfectly controlled. She took a step back, scared and completely clueless what to do about it.

"I'll kill you if I have to." Stefan murmured, eyes locked on Elliot's grinning face.

"Huh. Like how you killed Marco?"

He lunged forward with wild violence in his suddenly blazing red eyes at the exact same moment a new voice yelled;

"STEFAN, NO!"

Next second it was like all the energy had seeped from Phoebe's limbs and she sank to the ground with a moan. She knew what had happened, it was the same way her aunt had broken up fights when she'd been small and Finn had annoyed her. Sure enough Aunt Zoe was hovering in the hall just behind the two equally lethargic vampires. They'd been on their way to visit Matilda's sick room when Stefan had caught up with them and Zoe must have heard the commotion in the hall. She was staring at them with eyes so hard they looked like chips of green glass and her expression was a mix of anger, hurt and exhaustion.

"Elliot Bysshe. Why am I not surprised to see you causing trouble?" Aunt Zoe growled. "And you, Stefan, rising to it! I thought you knew better. You and you-" she pointed to the two prone vampires "-get in here now. Firefly... You should go back to your Mom, sweetheart. I'll deal with this."

"I need to stay with Elliot." Phoebe managed to argue around the numb lethargy pulling at her limbs. It was every bit as exhausting for Zoe to drain their energy as it was for them to fight against it, she'd never been as strong with her Talent as the rest of the Vampire Guard.

"Stay, then. But be warned you might hear something you don't like. This is an old fight, I thought we'd all moved past it already. It should have ended centuries ago." Zoe replied, though her disappointed gaze never left Stefan's face.

Then the exhaustion disappeared and all three of them got back to their feet, following the blonde vampire into the open doorway she'd just appeared from. Aunt Tilda was lying on a bed surrounded by medical equipment; she had a tube delivering extra oxygen to her nose and a drip for hydration in her arm. She smiled when she saw Phoebe and to the princess' surprise her aunt grinned even wider when her eyes fell on Elliot.

"I thought you were dead." Matilda rasped by way of greeting.

"And I thought you were undead. Shows you not to make assumptions. Did the human boy knock you up?" Elliot asked casually, dropping into a cross legged hover by the bed. Matilda shrugged and looked away; Elliot stared at her with her eyes unfocussed for a moment. Reading her mind, Phoebe realised. She hadn't even asked permission, she'd just dived right into the other woman's thoughts. That was unforgivably rude, Uncle Stefan always asked first unless someone was in immediate danger.

"Huh. At least the kid'll look like Zoe." Elliot shrugged after a moment, coming out of her trance. "So what did you need to drag us in here for?"

"Because I heard you in the hall and I want to know why you're bringing up Marco, why you'd come here after all these centuries and hurt us like that." Zoe commanded stiffly, eyes still cold and arm around Stefan's shoulders. The big man was looking away with his dirty blonde hair falling over his face so that nobody could see his expression.

"Marco? Lovely Marco, sweet, beloved Marco with his pretty eyes and his easy laugh. The Royal Guard's golden boy, the boy with sunshine in his smile. I saw him come back after they took him. I saw him crying and tearing at his skin with the shame of it all like his big, open heart was breaking in two. I saw Stefan take him in his arms, murmur to him, murder him." Elliot replied in a sing-song voice.

"Bullshit. Marco was kidnapped by the rebels and tortured to death." Zoe snapped.

"Oh, is that what he told you? And of course there's no way to know when a mind reader lies to you, is there? Stefan found him, his long lost _love_ , and smelled the blood on his hands. I smelled it too, see I followed him, wondered where our most loyal royal guard was slipping off to in the middle of the day while you two were tucked up keeping Marcy so busy and warm and vocal. Poor Marco, all torn up and broken, so horrified that he'd taken a human life. You know what Estelle and her friends did? They kept him locked up with a delicious fat human child for _days,_ until he couldn't control the hunger anymore and he went feral. He sucked the boy dry then went on a rampage from the blood lust. I heard him confess it all to his best buddy and closest friend, Stefan, and then I read it all from his mind to check it was true. And Stefan put out his arms like he was going to hug him, didn't you big guy? And when Marco came sobbing and trusting into his loving embrace Stefan kissed his cheek and said it would all be ok, then ripped his head off his shoulders with his bare hands. Didn't you?" Elliot finished triumphantly.

The ringing silence in the sick room was broken by Stefan's shuddering sob and he pulled into himself in the air like he was injured, curled up in a ball as though he could hide from them.

"Stefan?" Matilda prompted, voice broken and defeated.

"It was a mercy killing." he finally managed to choke out. "He didn't want to hurt the human, he didn't mean to. They forced him. It was already killing me to see what they'd done to him, I couldn't let Marceline suffer too. She'd have kept to the law, you know she would. No exceptions. Not even for her closest friends. She'd have had to execute him, one of her closest advisors; she'd have been forced to take his head publicly. Marco was dead the moment Estelle took him. All I could do was spare her the pain of making it final."

"And you never told her. Noble, faithful Stefan. The murderer, the man who killed his love. So what do you think about you wonderful uncle now, huh?" Elliot added tauntingly, grinning down at Phoebe.

It was almost hard to decide what to do and if she'd been really thinking clearly Phoebe would have struggled to know how to react. But she didn't think about it so the new vampire had no warning because she couldn't read it out of the princess' mind. Phoebe simply murmured the end word in the ancient fire language to drop her shield and when everyone recoiled in surprise at the sudden heat of her unguarded flames she reached out and slapped Elliot square across the jaw with a satisfying _whack_ , leaving a blistered red hand print for a long second before it faded beneath latent vampiric healing. Phoebe restored her shield, Daven had finally shown her how, and nodded briskly to Elliot who was staring at her in surprise.

"I think he's one of the bravest people I ever met; he saved my Mom more times than I can count. And I think that you are a dickhole. Go tell Mom I want a different bodyguard, you suck." she replied, already sliding her arms around Uncle Stefan and hugging him tightly.


	9. Chapter 9

**So I guess right about now is where a lot of people are hugely disliking Elliot? Well, that's fine ^^ She has her reasons for being an abrasive asshole. And Phoebe, awesome badass Phoebe, she's just such a huge pleasure to write. And she has more awesomeness to come, I'm not even close to exhausting my well of Firefly Badassery.**

 **This chapter comes with darkness warnings! I mean, we're nine chapters deep, things are gonna start getting dark. It also comes with the slightly unusual warning that if you're a fraternity fan you might not be overly pleased with the direction my OC villains are headed in. Remember I said there was gonna be one more OC?**

 **As ever reviews are hugely appreciated, they let me know how well I'm doing and if you like the direction this story is headed in. So if you have the time please take a moment to drop me a line.**

 **Content Warning: lightly implied fuck-boyisms, peanuts, more Firefly Badassery, a minor OC (dammit, sorry), socially maladjusted citrus fruit, reveals(!), feels, bad language, darkness.**

* * *

"Mom, _please_."

"No. For the last time, Phoebe. No. If I have to choose I'd rather you were safe than happy and I'd love it if you could just learn to get along with people even if you personally dislike them. What kind of queen refuses to work with an ally just because they were rude to a friend?"

"But she upset Uncle Stefan!"

"Elliot Bysshe has been upsetting Stefan for _centuries_ , Firefly. I'm sure that while he appreciates your loyalty even he would admit that she's deadly when threatened. That's exactly the sort of person I want as your bodyguard, however abrasive she can be. Stefan needs to be with your Mama to keep her migraines at bay, Tilda's sick and Zoe can't leave her side. I need someone I can trust to keep you safe. You know I wish I could be with you and your brothers all the time, especially now, but we have a war effort to lead. I need to be in too many places at once as it is. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

It was that more than anything else that made Phoebe give up on changing her Mom's mind about Elliot being her bodyguard. After Uncle Stefan had admitted being forced to mercy kill the man he'd been hopelessly and unrequitedly in love with to save Marceline the agony of having to execute one of her closest friends, Phoebe had a new appreciation for the concept of noble suffering. He'd carried that around with him for centuries, never once even thought about either forgiving himself or confessing his guilt. Even now he'd asked her to respect that he still didn't want Marceline to know because it would save her unnecessary pain. Stefan had always been something of a father figure to the young princess and if he could put aside his intense personal dislike and work with Elliot for her mothers' sake then so could Phoebe.

"Fine, I'll let her guard me. But I won't talk to her more than necessary." she muttered sulkily. Next time she might even try to concede with grace but from her weary smile obviously her Mom appreciated that she was conceding at all.

"Thank you, Firefly. Have you decided what you'll wear tomorrow night yet?" Marcy asked, changing the subject and probably trying to ease the mood. It only made Phoebe more on edge than ever.

"No. And honestly, Mom, I don't think now's the time for a ball. We have a war to fight."

"Normally I'd agree. But your Mama has spent so much time planning this, can't you at least dance and talk to some nice young men and women and have a little fun for one night? We're well guarded and there's no indication that a single rebel vampire has set foot inside our borders yet. I mean... I wonder what they're waiting for? But for tomorrow at least we're celebrating your coming of age. It isn't every day my only daughter turns eighteen now, is it? At least do it for your Mama's sake, you know how much she loves to dance."

"I wish someone would do something for my sake for a change." Phoebe muttered in a sulky voice. Marceline chose to ignore it.

"How about the dark blue A-line dress with the nice silk draping?" she suggested hopefully. Phoebe threw her hands up in defeat.

"Fine, fine! I'll wear the damned dress and dance with all the nobles and pretend like I care about my birthday! And if the rebels break in and murder us all because I'm wearing a stupid gown that I can't fight in then I want 'I Told You So' carved in big letters on my grave marker."

"If the rebels break in during your coming-of-age ball then you will be instantly whisked off to safety and let the adults worry about the fighting."

"I'm eighteen tomorrow, Mom. I'll be an adult."

"Do I have to guilt trip you again?"

"No. Fine. I'll stay out of it if all hell breaks loose tomorrow night. After that though, all bets are off."

"Headstrong, stubborn and careless with your safety. Just like your Mama." Marcy sighed proudly. "Now if you don't mind, I've got a ton to do since the rebels have overrun Goblin City and all the best forges are out of action. We're gonna need silver plating on our weapons to deal with their werewolf guards and I need to figure how we're gonna do that with such limited resources. I'll see you at dinner, darling."

That was a polite way of telling her she'd already taken up too much of her Mom's time and to go do something else, preferably something useful. Well Phoebe had something useful in mind, for sure. She hurried from the sunroom with a muttered goodbye and instead of heading to the library or her bedroom she made for the service stairs at the back of the building, the ones that lead down to the kitchens and then all the way to the dungeon. She almost managed it unnoticed but ever since the Grand Council meeting there'd been an extra and very annoying pair of eyes following her every move.

"Would you care to take a walk through the rose garden with me, princess?"

Phoebe gritted her teeth and tried to arrange her features into a calm mask before she turned to face him. The Marquis of Nuts had apparently developed a deep and intense crush on her and he was following her around like she had an annoying peanut shaped shadow.

"Macadamien. I don't have time right now, I'm very busy." she told him with a fake smile. "Why don't you go ask Jake if he wants to take a walk? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to show you the gardens."

"Maybe we can walk together later, when you've concluded your business, in, er... the dungeons?" he asked, brow creasing in confusion as he finally noticed where she was headed. She sighed and let the pretend friendliness melt off her face.

"Look... You're a very nice guy and one day you'll make a girl who's into chivalry and doesn't have allergies very happy. But please, stop following me around and trying to open doors for me and stuff. I'm not interested, dude. You're too young for me. And also you're a peanut."

"Isn't Queen Marceline two hundred years older than Queen Bubblegum though?" he pressed persistently. "I mean, what's an age gap to true love?"

"Ok, first of all, did you look that up? Specifically to use as a counter argument because you knew I wasn't going to date a little kid? That's just weird. And I'm eighteen tomorrow. And you're eleven. And a _peanut_. Go bother some other eleven year olds, I'm not your true love." Phoebe snapped, temper flaring. She turned and stalked away from him, fuming.

"I'll see you at the ball tomorrow night, princess! Save the last dance for me!" Macadamien called after her. He thought she was playing hard to get? He was about to be very let down, then.

As brief as the interruption was it had put Phoebe in an even worse mood by the time she reached her destination. She was too damn angry to care about the scores of slatted eyes watching her from the rows of gloomy bunk beds or the occasional deep purr and salacious mutter just on the edge of her hearing. They were exactly the same kind of filthy and rough as common foot soldiers had been since time immemorial and she knew she was beautiful and exotic to their eyes, she didn't have time to care about whatever derogatory 'compliment' they were whispering about her to their comrades. And besides the one she'd come to speak to was easy enough to spot once her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She marched right up to him and watched with savage delight as his eyes widened in fear, probably remembering her mother's threat.

"You." Phoebe snapped, jamming a finger into the soft, fuzzy yarn of the sweater Yrran wore to keep the chill off his bald chest. "Come with me. I need your help."

"Hey Baldylocks, has your pretty girlfriend got your balls in her purse?" someone called from the shadows to a chorus of appreciative snickering from the rest of the Grimmalks. Phoebe scowled around at them all.

"Anyone else wanna come and risk incineration by an unshielded flame elemental with anger management issues? No? Not a single brave volunteer among you?" she asked in a loud, carrying voice. She was answered only by silence and averted eyes. "Right, good. Let me know when the rest of you manage to locate some balls. Come on then, Hairless Wonder."

Phoebe strode away out of the dungeon just as quickly as she'd arrived and Yrran was left gaping after her for half a second before he scrambled to catch up. As soon as they were out of earshot of the other Grimmalks he turned to her.

"You didn't really mean it about getting incinerated, right?" he asked in a voice heavy with anxiety.

"Oh hell yes I meant it. Come on, you're gonna help me with a physics experiment."

...

The murmur of conversation below and the clink of champagne glasses announced the arrival of their guests but still Bonnie lingered in her daughter's bedroom, fussing around Phoebe's clothes and delaying the moment she'd have to formally introduce the young princess as an adult no long bound by her mothers' control.

"Mama, I think my dress is as perfectly draped as it's gonna get." Phoebe finally told her gently. Bonnie sighed and lowered her hands from where she'd been rearranging the back for the hundredth time.

"Look at you, so grown up. You know, Firefly, technically we're the same age now." she replied softly.

"Even more technically you're eight hundred years older than me." Phoebe reminded her. "And most importantly you'll always be my Mama. Come on, don't get all sentimental on me."

"I'm just proud of you, can't I be proud of my little girl on the first night of her adult life?"

"Sure, but don't you think everyone else wants to be proud of me too? Come on, we're gonna be late for being fashionably late."

Bonnie allowed her daughter to pull her out into the hall and followed her to the staircase with an internal sigh. She knew Phoebe wasn't really eager to go and dance, she just wanted to get the ball out of the way. And as much as Bonnie appreciated her daughter's work ethic she wished Firefly could understand that these little moments of normalcy in a sea of uncertainty were what they were fighting for. If they abandoned normal family life completely then the rebels had already won, in a way. And just for one night they were going to come together as a family, as a kingdom, and celebrate the princess' birthday.

"Their Royal Highnesses Queen Bonnibel Bubblegum and Princess Phoebe Lakshmi Abadeer!" Peppermint Butler announced happily as they stepped out into the ballroom together. Bonnie didn't even try to fight the proud smile on her face as her daughter curtsied to their guests and stepped out into the crowd to meet her brothers and mother. After a hug and exclamation over Firefly's lovely dress Marceline turned to her wife with a smile.

"And look at you, all dressed up pretty! Damn, if I hadn't already wifed you I'd marry you again."

"Charmer." Bonnie giggled, allowing her wife to kiss her on the cheek. "You scrub up pretty well yourself."

Marceline spread her arms so Bonnie could fully admire the beautifully tailored suit she'd picked out for the night, complete with a red silk cravat and embroidered waistcoat. It was old fashioned and suited the vampire, it matched with the outfits their other undead guests had chosen for the occasion but was, of course, a little more showy. As good as Marceline looked in the suit Bonnie couldn't help but imagine how much fun they'd have later taking it off. Since things were so tense it was only natural that they'd seek comfort in each other more than usual and Marceline seemed more than happy to oblige her needs.

Phoebe had already been claimed for a dance with one of LSP's lumpy friends and was laughing brightly, obviously enjoying herself despite her reservations. It was easy to ignore the presence of the extra Grimmalk guards stationed at every window and entry point in the ball room and at strategic locations throughout the crowd, Bonnie thought. Almost too easy; it made her nervous that they could melt into the background like that. And of course they'd had to be invited as guests too, at least the officers had. Gal'no Fullclaw was still out of action while his werewolf inflicted injuries healed so in his place he'd sent his personal assistant. Bonnie caught sight of him standing awkwardly to one side next to M'iol Deservingblood who, to her concern, was eyeing Jake appreciatively.

"Daddy, you made it!"

Marceline's voice interrupted her thoughts and drew Bonnie back to their immediate surroundings in time to turn and greet Hunson, frowning over his shoulder at the dozen or so young demons he'd dressed up and brought along. They were all about eighteen, a mix of boys and girls, and all of them would probably be considered very aesthetically pleasing by Nightosphere standards. Bonnie cringed internally; Phoebe wasn't going to like her grandfather trying to set her up.

"Well you both look lovely, as always. And where is the birthday girl? I brought some people to meet her." Hunson boomed happily. He waved a hand behind him at the anxious demon teens he'd assembled.

"Here, Granddaddy." Phoebe sighed, spinning out of her dance and stopping gracefully in front of them. She let her grandfather hug her, shooting her parents a look over his shoulder like they should have known he'd do something like this. Marceline shrugged at her helplessly.

"Happy birthday, Firefly. Now, I brought along some friends for you to meet, I hope you don't mind. This is Gopala, your third cousin."

A huge, hulking behemoth of a demon stepped forward and bowed to the princess with all the grace a nine foot tall Minotaur could manage. His polished horns gleamed in the candlelight, almost as long as Phoebe's arms.

"My princess," he rumbled in a voice so low it made her chest vibrate, "may I have this dance?"

He held out one massive hoof to her and Phoebe took it gingerly, only managing to wrap her hand halfway around it.

"Umm... how, though?" she muttered, embarrassed.

"I do not understand your meaning, princess."

"You're twice my height and at least four times my weight. The ground shakes when you move. How exactly are we supposed to dance together?"

Gopala shook his massive head meditatively and blew hard through his heavily pierced nose.

"An astute question. Please, allow me."

"What-"

Next second he'd swept Phoebe up off the ground and was waltzing carefully with her sitting on one enormous, muscular arm and clinging on to a bicep almost as thick as she was in terror. Marceline turned away, trying to hide her laugh.

"He won't hurt her, right?" she asked Hunson.

"Gopala? No, he's very careful. I just thought the poor boy deserved as much chance as anyone."

Bonnie was about to weigh in too but someone caught her elbow; she must have missed them talking to her over the general noise. She turned and caught her breath. Staring back at her was the last face she'd wanted to see.

"Mmmmmmm you did not respond to my, mmmmm, messenger!" the Earl of Lemongrab shrieked. "UNNACCEPTABLE! We may be, mmmmmm, separated, but we need to discuss my legal status as King if you are killed!"

"I-" Bonnie started, but Marceline beat her too it.

"What the hell do you think you're talking about, Lemmonbutt?" she demanded, prodding him in the chest aggressively.

"WHO IS THIS?" Lemongrab shrieked back. A good number of the crowd around them had stopped dancing and talking and had turned to stare at the gatecrasher.

"Who am I? Where the hell have you been for the last sixteen years? I'm her _wife_." Marceline snarled.

"Marcy, wait, we should talk in private-"

Bonnie didn't even manage to get the sentence finished before Lemongrab shrieked even louder than ever, spreading his accusations as loudly and publicly as her occasional stress nightmares had predicted.

"MMMMMMM! WHAAAAT? BIGAMY! YOU CANNOT MARRY MORE THAN ONE PERSON, BUBBLEGUM! I AM YOUR HUSBAND!"

...

Marceline closed the door of the study with a heavy snap and turned to lock eyes first with Lemongrab then Bonnibel. Her wife, or so she'd thought for all those years.

"You," she pointed at the man, "Quiet. Bonnie, you explain yourself."

Lemongrab took a breath to argue but stayed silent under her cold gaze. Bonnie hung her head.

"It wasn't legally binding, there was no ceremony and no, you know. Consummation." she finally muttered. Marceline's rage flared in her chest but she held onto it, needing to hear the whole thing before she let go of the forest fire of anger that was building inside herself.

"Why?" she asked instead, only just keeping her voice icy. If she stayed cold she'd probably manage to hear it without exploding, at least for a while.

"You'd left me, _yet again_ , and it was one of your longer absences. And I was angry and lonely and, look you know I made bad choices sometimes!" Bonnie pleaded. She raised her eyes to Marceline's face and the sight of tears shining there on her cheeks almost undid the vampire's anger. Almost. If it hadn't been for the smug walking citrus standing behind her with his arms across his chest she might even have forgiven Bonnie, crossed the room to wipe those tears away and kiss her eyelids. But Marcy stayed in place with her arms crossed tightly across her chest to hide how her hands shook.

"I thought I could make a replacement." Bonnie whispered, staring at the floor again. "I thought- he was designed to be the opposite of everything that had ever upset me about you. I was angry. I made him serious, humourless, severe. I guess I wanted to hurt you. But of course the experiment failed, it was always going to fail. I still had to try, I was going crazy."

"How can you say it failed?" Lemongrab shrieked at her unexpectedly. "I am living and breathingggg, your husband! I am not a failure!"

Bonnie turned to face him with naked rage blazing in her eyes. Despite still being furious herself a small part of Marceline couldn't help but cringe for the lemon man. Clearly he had no idea what he was stirring.

"Making you wasn't the experiment, you stupid citrus! I'd made hundreds of people, I'd been doing it for centuries! You think making you was _difficult_? I made you in about two hours flat! _I_ was the experiment! I was trying to fix myself! Make myself attracted to someone suitable for me! To a man!" Bonnie yelled back at him. Her face was twisted with anger like she'd wanted to scream that for years, like she was finally draining the poison from an ancient wound.

"Bon-" Marceline started, completely stunned. Bonnie spun to her and it was obvious she hadn't exhausted her well of fury.

"No. Don't you try to tell me now that I was wrong to do what I had to for my own peace of mind! Do you know how many times you just walked out on me over the years? How often I questioned my sanity for coming back to you? How many times I wished I could just switch off my feelings? And not just because I didn't want to love you anymore but because loving you hurt worse than anything else! You were exhausting, Marceline! I never knew from one minute to the next what you were going to do, how you were feeling! I never knew if you were coming back or if this was it!"

With every angry word out of her wife's mouth Marceline's shock melted and was replaced by molten fury. How many more secrets was Bonnibel hiding in her past, how many more bad choices was she going to try to blame on someone or something else? And how dare she drag up the distant past after all those years like it justified all of her crappy decisions? Her livid reply was bursting out of her lips before she'd even had a chance to think better of it.

"So you built a fucking replacement for me in your laboratory like some kind of next level sociopath? Do you know how hugely fucked up that is? You can't just _make_ people when you want something then dump them when they're not useful anymore! People aren't disposable, they're not fucking _toys_! So what, you made a husband for yourself, discovered that you couldn't stand to be in the same room as him let alone bed him and you banished him to a distant corner of your kingdom and put him under house arrest? Just because we'd had a stupid fight and you were too fucking proud to call me and open a dialogue? I guess Lemonface should be glad you didn't lock him in a fucking prison lamp and forget about him, too!"

Marceline didn't realise until after she had to stop for air that she'd transformed from the sheer weight of rage crushing through her. She was towering over both Bonnie and Lemongrab who were gaping up at her with varying expressions of horror and pain on their faces. She'd let her demonic wings rip right through her suit, turning it into so many shreds of expensive cloth, and her fangs were grown so long that she struggled to close her mouth. Bonnie's face was hard from guilt and pain but that fire of old anger still lit her eyes.

"You're not even going to try to understand, are you? You just waltzed in and out of my life leaving a trail of destruction and then you expected me to be there waiting when you came back? You know what, Marceline? I'm done with trying to make you see that I wasn't the problem."

Without another word something that had been unresolved in Bonnibel's expression abruptly sharpened into determination and despite the angry tears glazing her face she whirled away towards the door of the study.

" _Don't you dare!"_ Marceline commanded in a voice that shook the air like thunder. " _Don't you dare walk away from me, Bonnibel!"_

"You don't get to tell me what to do, Marceline. Especially not when it's the exact same thing you always do every single damn time we argue. Looks like it takes a hypocrite to know a hypocrite. Don't bother trying to follow me, I don't want to know you right now." she replied icily. Next second she wrenched the door open and fled before anyone could see the tears spill down her cheeks again.

Marceline watched her go and wondered around the numbness of her shock how she should feel about it, if she should follow or if things were too broken to ever fix. She'd give Bonnie space, she decided after a moment. Let her cool down and think about things. And then... then Marcy supposed they'd have to have a very serious talk, and decide how to get through it and put their past to rest once and for all. But for tonight she was going to go change her clothes and head back to her daughter's birthday ball, pretend like everything was fine and get the guests to the suites they'd be spending the night in as quickly and painlessly as possible. She'd call it a misunderstanding. Everyone knew Lemongrab had a screw loose so it wouldn't be too hard to brush it off and say his unfounded accusations had sent Bonnie to bed with a stress migraine. No need to cause any more of a scene. She drifted from the room, ignoring Lemongrab as a matter of course, and subtly shape shifted all traces of anger or grief from her face. Firefly needed her to be a Mom and that meant she had no time to be a grieving wife tonight.

...

For once in her very long life Bonnie wasn't even trying to think rationally. She was barely thinking at all, simply running with her dress held up around her knees and her eyes blurred with angry tears. Yes, she'd fucked up. And she should have told Marceline about Lemongrab a long time ago but really how was it that different to her and stupid Ash? Or the secret about her lineage that she'd kept for four hundred years and had never intended to share until Zoe and Matilda turned up in their bedroom-

She tripped and stumbled, only just managing to catch herself before hitting the ground, and for a moment Bonnie had no idea how she'd gotten outside. She was past the palace walls and out towards the outskirts of town. It hadn't been intentional but nowhere was far enough away right then, she needed to be someplace she could think undisturbed. And it wasn't like they'd had any word of vampires even to the north of the kingdom, let alone the south. It was probably safe. Whatever, Bonnie decided recklessly. She wasn't some dumb weakling sighing at the moon from her tower window waiting to be saved by some brave knight. For the first four hundred years of her life she'd not even known Marceline had existed and she'd managed to stay alive pretty damn easily. Fuck it, Bonnie decided. She wasn't sitting around at home waiting for Marceline to scream at her about things from the distant past again. The night was cool and a light rain was falling, she was going to walk off her anger and damn the consequences. In the back of her mind the voice of reason was shrieking at her to turn around and head back to the safety of the palace but Bonnie had a plan. She still technically owned the cabin Betty had been staying in. If any vampires did come sniffing around they'd need her permission to enter. Hell, even Marcy didn't have that, it had never come up. Uncle Gumball's cabin was the perfect bolt-hole, Bonnie decided. It wasn't even all that far away.

With one last angry scowl at the lights of the palace glittering behind her and a quick swipe at her face to get rid of the last of her tears Bonnibel set off at a jog, skirting around the edges of the candy forest and arriving a little out of breath on the dark porch of the cabin a few minutes later. The whole time she was running through the fight in her head and berating herself, turning her initial defensive anger inwards because deep down she knew it was nobody's fault but her own. Marceline had left plenty of times in the past but Bonnie hadn't exactly treated her fairly back then either; it was easy to remember the crushing pain of being abandoned again and again but much more difficult to remember that Marcy hadn't felt valued in their relationship when she was forced to hide and act like she meant nothing to her lover. The bottom line, Bonnie considered as she let herself into the dark cabin, was that they'd both been very different people before their children came along and forced them to grow up.

She'd barely lit the lamps and put the tea kettle boiling on the stove to make some chamomile tea when there was a knock at the door. Bonnibel sighed and went to the peephole, staring out into the night and squinting at the familiar dark outline hovering on the porch. Looked like Marceline had decided to follow her after all.

"What do you want now?" she called through the thick wood of the door. A reply came back but it was too muffled to make out. "What? I can't hear you. Oh, for Grod's sakes, just come in and we'll talk."

A moment later the door swung open and Marceline was hovering there in the doorway grinning at her and apparently already completely over her full scale rage tantrum from earlier in the night. Bonnie stared, confused.

"Hey. So. Nice place you got." Marcy announced, staring lazily around at the inside of the cabin. That wasn't right, Bonnie realised. Something was very off with the way her wife was acting. And she'd changed her clothes, she was wearing tattered jeans and a very elderly looking plaid shirt. Bonnie hadn't ever seen before.

"Why did you change out of your suit?" Bonnie asked warily. She backed up a couple of steps by instinct and her wife hovered closer, still grinning in that unsettling way.

"What, I can't dress down to come chill with my best gal?" the vampire asked with a casual shrug.

"You're not still angry with me?" Bonnie pressed. Anything to keep the other woman talking, distracted, not noticing the frantic thud of her heart as it jackhammered in growing fear. She was edging towards the kitchen where the kettle was just beginning to whistle on the stove. Marceline followed her lazily cocking her head to one side and regarding Bonnibel with eyes that didn't quite look right. They were too... something was off about their shape and shade.

"Why would I be angry, babydoll?" she asked with a quiet smirk.

Marceline had never called her 'babydoll' in the four hundred years they'd known each other, she didn't own any shirts that looked as ancient as that and a quick glance at her hand revealed she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. Her eyes were wrong. She had no idea why they might be upset with each other.

Quick as a flash Bonnie darted a hand behind herself and grabbed the shrilly boiling tea kettle. Burning pain seared through her palm but she barely felt it. She hurled the kettle at the vampire; it exploded in their face with a shower of boiling hot water and drew a fierce scream of pain and anger. Bonnie bolted to the open door but from the corner of her eye she noticed that Marceline's outline had melted away to reveal a hulking man with brown hair slicked up into a quiff and eyes burning red with rage. Her only hope was to try to get anywhere within earshot of the Grimmalk guards patrolling around the edges of the town but even as she hurtled through the night faster than she'd ever run before Bonnie knew it was hopeless. Despite the terrified burst of adrenaline flooding her system she didn't even get off her first scream before an icy cold hand clamped like frozen iron around her mouth and she was hauled up off the ground with her legs still flailing and arms pinioned hard behind her back.

"Should have followed your own warning notices, babydoll." the man snarled in her ear. "Do not open the door after dark, no matter who is knocking on the other side. Always knew my impression of that royal ditz would come in handy one day. Yo, let's have a look and see what we can see inside your brain meats."

Bonnie couldn't even try to wriggle away from him as he lowered his lips to her neck and gently, almost lovingly, pierced the skin with the corner of one fang. But she wasn't afraid of whatever it was he would do to her mind, she had her-

"Fucking thing's stopping me. Hold that thought, side bitch."

He unclamped her mouth for one second and Bonnie managed to get off a single piercing scream before her crown was ripped from her head and crushed into nothing more than a twisted hunk of scrap metal and sapphire dust in his merciless fist. Then he was gagging her again and plunging his fangs back into her throat and it was nothing like the intense pleasure-pain of the lover's bite Marceline marked her with when they were intimate, it burned and tore and she screamed uselessly against the rock solid flesh of his hands across her mouth.

"Huh, much better. Interesting. Yeah, we should be able to have some fun with you, cupcake." he told her in a voice that sounded like he was smirking when he finally pulled back from tasting her blood. "Well I've got some bros who can't wait to meet the guest of honour, come on, babydoll. It's Fraturday night, we got half the damn herd drained and a sweet-ass blood bong ready to rock. Let's haul ass and go hang loose with the cool cats. You like to party, yo? Sure you do. You're the Zeta Psi saddle tonight, sweet stuff."

They streaked off through the trees, her trying to writhe uselessly against his iron grip and him laughing like he found the whole thing really funny. For one fleeting moment Bonnie thought she saw a familiar round figure watching them from the lake but it was probably just her desperate, horrified imagination playing tricks on her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Of course this chapter comes with darkness warnings, and of course I apologise in advance. But then Bonnie wouldn't be Bonnie if she didn't sometimes make a huge miscalculation and screw things up for herself, right? As ever, I only torture her because she's secretly my favourite and she's just so interesting when she's having drama.**

 **So if you get to the end of this chapter, wonder if I deliberately named my OCs in a way that would promote ambiguity all the way back in Foundlings, and wonder how long my long game is on this... yes, I did, and there is more to come. I've been subtly foreshadowing a pretty big reveal since the beginning of Foundlings and you won't get to find out what it is until the end of Full Circle, although I'd love to hear some fan theories on that if you have any. Or, feedback in general. Feedback is awesome.**

 **Content Warning: Elliot being dickish, feeling revelations, nods to the great Tony Bennett, injury, bravery, suicide missions, plot devices, head-fucks.**

* * *

As Gopala finally spun to a halt and put a windswept Phoebe down with another bow she became aware that there was a hum of conversation running through the ball room that didn't sound exactly friendly. She wasn't able to make out any distinct words but there was something subtly different in the mood of the crowd, something of tense excitement and speculation.

"Thanks, Gopala. I should go find my brothers." she muttered to him distractedly as she stared off into the crowd. Finn was dancing with stupid Victoria who looked far too pretty to be allowed at someone else's birthday party. Besides there was exactly zero chance of her dumb little brother having noticed anything unusual happening anyway. Instead Phoebe whirled, scanning the room for Jake. She found herself face to face with a very unwelcome pair of grey-blue eyes that were smirking at her.

"Happy birthday, Glow Worm." Elliot greeted her with a toothy grin.

"It's Firefly, and only my family call me that." she snapped back, temper flaring. Dammit, she didn't have time to play games with her androgynous vampire guardian, she needed to find out what was going on. Where were her parents? They'd been right there a couple of minutes earlier and now they were nowhere to be seen.

"Whatever. So, you're looking for your family? Ohh, you don't know yet! How precious. Well, there's some gossip going down alright. Your Mom is off in the study screaming at your Mama because some talking lemon dude turned up and screeched that he was her lawful husband. I guess that wasn't part of the night's entertainment? Chill, your Aunt Zoe is already reassuring people that Fruit Brain is just confused and there's nothing to worry about. I mean... that's a pretty obvious lie though, right? So, your parents might not be legally wed after all. Huh. Technically that means all their late night fumbling was adultery, does the Candy Kingdom have laws about that? Does that make you a bastard, since you were adopted out of wedlock? How does that work, do you think?"

"I swear to Grod, Elliot. If you don't shut the fuck up right now I will stake you right here in front of all these witnesses-"

"Princess! What is this I hear about you mothers committing bigamy? There's no truth in the rumour, is there?" a new voice asked. But at least it was only the father and not-

No, when she spun to address the Duke of Nuts as he bore down on her from the dessert table with pudding stains around his mouth Macadamien was trailing him and smiling at her like he'd done something very subtle in talking his father into asking her about the night's gossip.

"Just a misunderstanding, dear Duke. Mom has it all under control. You know how Lemongrab gets, he's confused." Phoebe replied with a smooth curtsy to him.

"He's just the worst, I can't imagine why he was even invited. And on your birthday too, I'm so sorry. Princess Phoebe, while we're here I was wondering if you would do my eldest son the honour of the next dance?"

She cringed internally and looked over his shoulder in desperation.

"I'm afraid I already have a partner for the evening." Phoebe lied quickly. "I agreed to dance with... Uh..."

Elliot was smirking at her with a raised eyebrow like Phoebe had backed herself into a corner and for one horrifying split second she thought she might have to dance with the unpleasant vampire all evening. Until a familiar outline at the punch table caught her attention.

"I agreed to teach Yrran how to dance." Phoebe announced loudly enough for the bald Grimmalk to hear. He turned to look at her, breaking off from his conversation with M'iol Deservingblood to catch her eye in surprise. "Yrran! There you are! I thought I'd lost you."

"M'lady." Yrran greeted her as he slid gracefully through the crowd to where they stood. "I arrived late, I thought the gracious thing to do would be allow you to finish your first dance. Shall we?"

He held out a paw and she took it with no outward sign of surprise that he was playing along with her bizarre ploy even when instead of the expected brief kiss he touched the back of her hand against the warm suede of his cheek in a traditional Grimmalk greeting. Macadamien watched them disappear off onto the dance floor with narrowed eyes.

"Thanks for getting me out of that." Phoebe murmured as they settled into a gentle waltz rhythm. "Macadamien won't leave me alone, he thinks I'm his true love. I might have lost my temper and shouted at him yesterday. How's your sunburn by the way?"

"Painful." Yrran replied quietly.

"Sorry about that. But I suppose that's a good thing though, right?"

"I guess so, given what your goal was. I've never seen a light show quite like it before. Is that... can all flame elementals do that?"

She shrugged and he misstepped, ending up too close and with one back leg halfway shoved between the skirts of her dress. Yrran flushed and stepped back hurriedly.

"Sorry." he mumbled with an embarrassed flick of his long, bat-like ears. "Guess I need those dancing lessons after all."

"No, it's my fault." she sighed, suddenly pensive. "I don't know if other flame elementals can do that, I don't know much about them at all. It only just occurred to me recently that I might be capable of controlling more than just fireballs, you know? Since the rebels came back. My biological brother told me I was a weapon, my fire is better than any sword. So I decided to experiment with it. I don't think anyone else in the Fire Kingdom has thought about applying scientific process to their abilities. But from what my study suggests we're basically tiny nuclear reactors and we can emit light at the visible range. So then why not infrared and ultraviolet light too? Or anything on the electromagnetic spectrum; maybe I could even learn to emit radio waves or radiation. Those are produced in a nuclear reaction too, not just yellow and red light. So I figured, why not experiment with the length of light waves I emit? I- I'm sorry, I'm boring you."

Phoebe forced herself to stop talking. It was just that she'd never really met anyone but her Mama who shared her passion for science and she was keeping her new discovery about her light waves a secret from her parents until she was certain she could produce accurate and reliable results. Any attempt for permission to fight before she could prove she was their best weapon would result in her being kept under strict lock and key for the rest of the war and Phoebe was not going to let her Mama's overprotectiveness stop her from being useful. But Yrran was watching her with that same unwavering intensity that she'd come to associate with the quiet cat demon.

"You call it science, I call it magic." he replied softly. "You can create the essence of daylight and bend flames to your will, you can tell your fire when to burn and when to gently warm the skin. It's witchcraft. You are a witch. An enchantress."

It was difficult but not impossible for a flame elemental to blush, Phoebe knew. And she was so glad that the flickering blue of her flame shield obscured any small change in the colour of her cheeks. She looked away as they swayed in a wide arc around the room.

"May I ask you a personal question, Princess?" Yrran asked softly after the silence stretched between them.

"Sure."

"Why do they call you Firefly?"

"It's been a nickname since I was young. Mom started calling me it, she said it's because I radiate moon glow."

"Oh. Well, Lady Evil is as poetically accurate as ever, then. I understand the 'fire' part, but why 'fly'? Do... do you have the power of flight?"

He looked stunned at the surprised giggle that burst from her lips and Phoebe found herself grinning at the genuine innocence in the cat demon's eyes. They were cold blooded assassins, the worst demons of the underworld with a reputation more chilling and deserved than anyone else she'd ever met. And Yrran had no idea what a firefly was, the princess realised.

"No, like, a firefly is a type of bug. They glow in the evenings and stuff, they're considered quite pretty and, well, kinda romantic I suppose. People write about them in songs and use them in paintings. You've never seen one?"

He shook his head and the next words were falling out of her mouth without her even thinking about it.

"Oh. Well meet me in the rose garden at sunset tomorrow, I'll show you some."

"I would be honoured." Yrran replied with a slow, soft smile. They carried on waltzing carefully and Phoebe found it almost impossible to look away from his unblinking eyes or focus her mind with her usual sharp accuracy.

Mama would throw a fit, she realised distantly. Mom would try to behead him for treason or lock her in her bedroom for the next hundred years. But she didn't actually care, they weren't there to keep her away from the 'dangerous' demon and Yrran was a revelation, he was like nobody she'd ever met before. And against all odds Phoebe found herself waltzing around the ballroom in the arms of a thoughtful, handsome, intelligent man who was interested in science and thought she was magical and had never once tried to talk her into anything or assumed she was too dumb to see through him. There was just a tiny possibility she was developing a little bit of a crush on him and that was a problem for a number of reasons. Yrran was a soldier; a well-read and polite soldier with impeccable manners but still not even close to approaching royalty or nobility. Of course her parents wouldn't care about that but wider society would _talk_ and Phoebe hated being the subject of gossip. They were in the middle of what was looking like it was going to be a violent rebellion, she didn't have time to date anyone and even if she did she had a horrible feeling that she wouldn't know how to do it anyway. Jake had never shown the least interest in anyone ever until he met Lady and they became more or less inseparable immediately. Finn had kissed about every single girl he wasn't related to at one point or another and she didn't want to know if he'd done more than just taking girls out on dates and smooching with them because _ew gross_ , but there was a good chance he'd fooled around a bit since he'd managed to get Victoria pregnant like the idiot he was. And Phoebe had always thought she was far too clever for dating; girls didn't interest her anyway and boys were just so dumb. She had no contact with any other flame elemental except her brother Daven and she was too scared to think of hurting anyone who wasn't made of fire if her shield failed so the number of people she could even think about safely kissing was pretty much zero. And now here she was dancing with a _Grimmalk_ , not even a regular one of them because he was a strange hairless cat considered a weirdo by his demon comrades and he was still staring at her in intense fascination like she was the only person in the room-

"I have to go. I told LSP I'd dance with her too." Phoebe announced abruptly, dropping his paw and stepping back hurriedly. She needed to think and being too close to that direct slatted gaze made her brain feel fogged.

"Oh. Of course, I wouldn't want to monopolise your time. Happy birthday, your Majesty." Yrran replied in that same soft voice, bowing again gracefully with the barest hint of a tiny purr behind his words. Phoebe hurried away with her head spinning and heart pounding.

...

Starchy wasn't brave and he wasn't clever. What he was, more than anything, was simply loyal. And when he'd seen his queen running from her study with tears on her face and raised voices following her he'd automatically abandoned his sweeping and jogged after her without a second thought. All of the years of changed behaviour didn't count for anything if that vampire woman was going to go back to making Queen Bubblegum upset, and on her daughter's birthday too. Well Starchy wouldn't stand for it; if her wife wasn't going to comfort her then he was. She fled out to the courtyard and into the town and he ran after her, puffing hard to keep up. Bubblegum stopped at the edge of town, looked around, glowered at the palace and then took off in the direction of Lake Butterscotch. Where was she going? It was the middle of the night and Starchy had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. There were vampires out there. It seemed like a bad idea to him and he tried to call out to tell her so but he was winded from the sprinting and his words came out as a quiet gasp as she took off again in the gloom oblivious to his warning. Starchy sucked in another burning breath and took off running again, following his mistress despite his stubby legs screaming in protest at the pace.

For a minute he was terrified that he'd lost her somewhere in the inky darkness of the tree line, until a flare of lamp light in a window up ahead showed him that she'd gone into a house of some kind. Starchy finally slowed and allowed his breathing to return to normal before approaching. The queen would be safe enough in her cabin for now, he knew vampires couldn't enter without permission so he took a minute to compose himself first.

He'd wandered close enough that he could see the door and porch clearly but he was still far enough back that the golden light spilling from the windows didn't directly illuminate him for anyone inside the cabin to see if they were looking for him. And for a moment Starchy wondered who the strange man on the porch was, he hadn't seen anyone else walk up to the cabin but next second there was just a man floating there in the air, touching down soundlessly. Just like the vampire queen when she dropped out of a hover and slid back to visibility-

The man shook his head and a long, glossy mane of ebony black hair fell down to his heels, obscuring his shape for a second. Starchy blinked. But that looked just like Queen Marceline, the man was now a slender woman dressed in clothes that were too big for her. Starchy was about to call out, ask what Marceline thought she was doing, but something stopped him. Perhaps it was instinct or fear or just pure dumb luck. But next second he heard the stranger knock on the cabin door and he slunk further back into the shadows, not wishing either of his queens to think he'd been spying on their private business.

"What do you want now?" Bubblegum's voice called angrily from the other side of the door.

"Hello cupcake. I can't wait to taste your screams." the stranger muttered in a low, masculine voice full of the promise of violence. Starchy swallowed in sudden fear. That couldn't really be Marceline, not even after their worst fights would the vampire woman ever deliberately hurt her wife.

"What? I can't hear you. Oh, for Grod's sakes, just come in and we'll talk."

Before Starchy could find his voice to shout a warning the door was thrown open and the man disguised as Marceline hovered inside. Starchy panicked. What could he do? Creep forward and try to stake the man while he was distracted? But he was so afraid, there was every chance that if he had to look into those burning undead eyes close up he'd explode from the fear. Maybe he could run back to the palace and fetch the real Marceline? But by the time he'd done that what if Bubblegum was already dead? He dithered, paralysed by indecision and trembling with terror.

It looked for a second like Starchy had underestimated his queen's resourcefulness because just when he was settling on a plan to run in blindly and hope he found some courage Bubblegum exploded from the door and shot out into the night, almost bowling him over as he scrambled to get out of her way. And half a second later the stranger followed, face now masculine again and set in a mask of rage. He tackled her and spiralled up into the night sky with her gripped in a painful hold, talking to her in a low, angry voice too quiet for Starchy to hear. He stifled his gasp when the man took the crown from his queen's head and her sudden scream was cut off after half a second, then something twisted that glittered brokenly in the moonlight fell from his fist and clattered to the ground. The man flew off, back towards him and into the trees, and for a moment Starchy felt his queen's eyes on his face. She'd seen him, she must have. He knew then that he had to follow then, there was no other way. Bubblegum was depending on him. So off he went, bumbling along recklessly after them down a dark forest path covered in ground creepers and thorns and other things that tried to snag him and trip him, tear at his skin. Luckily the vampire man was too far ahead for him to hear Starchy crashing through the undergrowth behind him and after a couple of minutes of terrified stumbling the flickering light of a fire that the stranger stopped by gave the candy janitor plenty of warning to slow down and silence his movements before approaching any closer. His heart was pounding and for a moment he thought perhaps it would give him away but it was such a fast pulse and so low to the ground, Starchy hoped they'd mistake him for an animal of some kind since the woods were alive with wildlife.

Bubblegum was gagged and tied to a tree at the side of a clearing lit by a huge bonfire. There were shapes moving and voices laughing together; as he crept closer shivering against his fear Starchy made out the silhouettes of about twenty young vampire men with eyes crazed by bloodlust and group excitement bordering on hysteria. They howled and cheered at the man he'd seen abduct the queen, standing tall and proud next to where she was tied like a hunter showing off their kill.

"Quiet!" the man called in a carrying voice, and like trained hounds the rabble stilled and stare up at him adoringly.

"Do you know who this woman is?" he asked them. One or two shook their heads but most of them were still gazing rapturously at the man with unnatural stillness. "This is Queen Bubblegum. Ruler of the Candy Kingdom, the smartest woman alive. And the wife of our dear friend Marceline. Can you imagine what it would do to her to lose her _wife_?"

The watching men broke out into cheers again and started chanting "Zeta Psi! Zeta Psi!" and punching the air in excitement. Starchy took the opportunity to edge closer still under cover of their noise, moving as quickly as he dared on legs that barely managed to keep him upright with how badly they shook. From the position he was crouched in Starchy managed to circle behind the tree Bubblegum was tied to but before he'd taken more than quick glance at the knots binding her hands the strange man with the oddly tall hair was back again. Starchy scrambled into the darkness as the man took hold of Bubblegum's chin and gently tilted her head back and to the side to expose her throat. He stared at her skin hungrily before he went in for another deep bite to the appreciative howls and cheers of the mob. Starchy was helpless to do anything but watch with horrified eyes as a line of dark pink blood slowly spilled from the man's lips to soak the shoulder of his queen's delicate ball gown.

...

It was like... Bonnie didn't think she really had words for how the sensation of Garrett's Talent touching her mind felt. She knew his name, knew _him_ in a familiar way like he'd always been there in her mind when his power took hold over her. And he knew her. He could see everything, all her deepest and most shameful memories, all her thoughts and secret fears, all the parts of herself too ancient and too deep to show anyone. It was like he was spreading the finest threads of roots and growing into her mind, inside her memories and everything that made her who she was. Even when his fangs finally withdrew from her wounded neck he was still inside her head.

"You boys know I can only work with what's there already, right?" Garrett spoke out loud to his followers. Bonnie cringed against her gag; she knew what he'd found and she knew what he intended and if there had been a single thing she could have done about it she'd give anything to stop him. Garrett turned back to her and smiled in such a friendly, disarming way that if it hadn't been for the blood ringing his mouth he could almost have passed himself off as non-threatening. "It's no wonder the two of you are having problems, sweet stuff. You keep secrets from your wife, never quite let even her all the way in. I mean, I don't pretend to understand how you homos figure it out but take it from a guy with a ton of boyfriend experience, you gotta keep your girl happy. And that means you gotta just be _her girl_ , you understand? Sure you do. So this, this thing I'm seeing here in your brain? Well, cupcake, if I wasn't about to screw with that then I'd be telling you how to go be a better wife because as much as I hate that stupid ditz's spiky face nobody deserves disloyal thoughts from their spouse. And you thought she'd never find out. Huh. Wish I could see the look on her face. Let's start with this then see what else I can play with, shall we?"

The grip of Garrett's Talent in her mind _twisted_ and Bonnie screamed against the gag and writhed in agony; something was shifting and changing inside her brain, something that didn't fit was reshaping itself and shoving something else out of the way and now she didn't know which was supposed to be there, what was real and what was the Talent corrupting her thoughts. All she could feel was mental agony worse than any migraine and for a few long seconds Bonnie blacked out completely from the sheer intensity of pain. When she came to again it was to discover that Garrett's Talent had receded back to that thread-like network of subtle influence beneath her thoughts. He reached out and pulled the gag away from her mouth with another charming smile.

"Sorry I had to hurt you, sweet cheeks. It was the only way to do it against your will and I'm sure you understand that I'm not the sorta cat who'd do anything without a lady's express consent under any other circumstances. Tell us about yourself."

She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but his touch on her mind pushed the words out before she could stop them. And at the same time she felt small fingers beginning to pull furiously at the knots binding her hands behind her back.

"I- ah- my name is Bonnibel and I am eight hundred years old. I created a kingdom based on a blueprint left in my head by an ancient human, it's one of my deepest fears that one day the kingdom will find out the whole thing was just an advertising campaign for candy, that the original Princess Bubblegum was a cartoon drawing and our entire culture is founded from that because I didn't understand when I was first created that there was a difference between reality and fantasy. I wanted to be the beautiful princess from the concept art, I wanted them to cheer for me and love me and-"

"Tell us about your family." Garrett interrupted impatiently, and again the words spilled past her control before she could try to hold them back. The small hands trying to untie her arms had paused in surprise at her confession of the origins of the kingdom and she was certain it must be a candy citizen, but they recovered and resumed their work a second later.

"I have a brother, I called him Neddy. I think that name used to be important to one of the ancient humans who went into creating me, maybe they had a brother called Neddy too? But I just knew it was a name that fit the vague label 'brother' I had in my head. I have three adopted children. Jake is the oldest, he's such a sweetheart. He has five kids of his own now, can you believe I'm a grandmother? I don't look a day over eighteen, my grandsons both look older than me already. And then Phoebe, my daughter, my most precious little Firefly. Tonight is her coming-of-age ball, I wonder if she's missed me yet? I'm still trying to make up to her how we first met, it was... I'm so ashamed of that. And our youngest is Finn, our human son. He's trouble alright, always in the thick of whatever mischief is going on but you never met a boy who could charm you as well as he can. Finn's expecting a baby of his own with his girlfriend, I won't say I'm happy about it but what's done is done-"

Bonnie paused; the ropes finally loosened around her wrists but the small hands that had untied her carefully rested on her own, warning her silently not to move yet. Whoever it was must have a plan, she just needed to get her thumb ring off and hold it in her palm to use the magic Stefan had gifted her with all those years ago and return home. They needed a distraction.

"Your _wife_ , tell us about your wife." Garrett sighed.

"My wife? Oh. She's... just amazing, really. Too good for me. She thinks I'm perfect, acts like I'm some kind of divine being, but the truth is she's a better person than me. A better mother, a better ruler, more principled. I-"

"What's your wife's name?"

"Her... Her name? Don't you know her? My wife is called Ma-"

Bonnie never finished talking because next second someone was barreling out of the darkness behind her and Garrett's grip on her mind broke off from the surprise.

"EAT MY FUDGE YOU UNDEAD SONS OF BITCHES!"

Oh Grod, of all her citizens it was _Starchy_ who staggered out into the ring of red eyed vampires, violently shaking in terror and holding up a broken branch like a sword in front of him. One of the vampires lunged for him and with surprising agility for an elderly candy janitor Starchy evaded his grip then to Bonnie's astonishment he plunged the sharp edge of the branch into the man's chest and a second later the vampire crumbled into dust with his eyes wide in disbelief. Starchy looked like he couldn't believe it either, he'd actually staked an actual vampire, he'd drawn the first blood for his kingdom in their war. But the victory was short lived. Bonnie wasn't stupid, she knew what he was doing the moment the round little man charged into the clearing and all she could do now was make sure his plan worked. But her hands were numb and stiff from being bound for so long, especially the left hand that she'd had reattached. She almost dropped her magic ring and fumbled desperately, trying to catch hold of it without her movements drawing the vampires' attention.

"What the fuck are you supposed to be, little dude? Her bodyguard?" Garrett snarled as he caught hold of one arm and lifted Starchy up into the air.

"Me? I used to be her janitor." Starchy announced proudly, although his eyes were squeezed tight shut and he was vibrating dangerously, maybe only a few seconds away from being overwhelmed by his terror. Bonnie finally succeeded in getting the magic ring into her right palm and squeezing it tightly, thinking back sixteen years to the trigger words she'd set and regretting that she'd thought it necessary to make them so long.

"Used to be?" Garrett prompted with a vicious grin. "Duh. Because you're about to be a corpse, right?"

"Nope." Starchy replied proudly. "Used to be, because Old Starchy's not just a janitor anymore. He's a distraction. Old Starchy's gonna die a war hero."

Starchy opened his eyes and looked into the burning red gaze barely a foot from his own face and stopped fighting it. He left himself feel every fibre of the terror that was trying to consume him, felt his body shake harder than ever then go _rigid_ -

Starchy exploded, and covered the staring ring of vampires head to foot in thick, sticky fondant filling. The last thing he ever heard was his queen suck in a deep breath at the exact same moment and yell the trigger words for her magic ring, the one that would transport her home one single time if she had desperate need for it. He died with a smile on his face despite the terror.

"I HAVE BECOME THE VICTIM OF MY OWN HUBRIS!"

Before they could wipe the fondant from their faces or turn to grab her or do more than stare around in confusion Bubblegum was dissolving into the air and even as Garrett lunged with a wordless snarl for her she was gone, whisked away from his reach by some unknown magic. His face collided with the tree trunk and left a sticky imprint. Garrett swore loudly but he was already less real than the swirl of colour and magic that was pulling her irresistibly away. Home.

It took less than a second. Bonnie didn't even have time to reflect on the irony of those trigger words and how right she'd been to set them; something she'd never say accidentally, something that if she ever did need to use the ring would remind her that she'd made a serious miscalculation and would need to consider her next move much more carefully. The woods and the circle of vampires and the bonfire disappeared, replaced by her own bedroom. She'd used her wife's wedding ring as the anchor point, so wherever in Ooo she ended up she'd always come home. And with overwhelming relief Bonnie saw the outline of a woman curled under the blankets on the bed; despite their awful row earlier she flung herself forward and landed a tight hug onto the shape she loved so well.

"I was scared I'd never come home. I was so scared." she announced in a voice that trembled in delayed fear and grief. "Starchy- he, he's d-dead. I almost didn't get away, they did _something_ to me, I-"

"Bon? Babe, what happened? Is that _blood_? I thought you were just in the gardens!"

Bonnie stiffened in shock and staggered backwards, away from the anxious green eyes gazing at her from the bed. Her vision tunnelled in horror, she felt like she was falling backwards. No. The world was wrong, it made no sense.

"No." she gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. "No, I- what is this? What's going on?"

"Bonnie?" Marceline asked again, reaching out to her. But her wife shrank back with horror and confusion swirling through the rose tints of her eyes.

"You stay the hell away from me! Who the hell are you? Where's my wife? _Where's Matilda?_ "


	11. Chapter 11

**Ah guys, I'm delayed posting again and I don't even have a good excuse for why. It's just that every time I've tried to write anything for the last week it hasn't happened, I couldn't make the words go. Urgh. But here we are, I finally scraped this chapter together. There's more Now We Are Five, Law Of Large Numbers, guest posts on friends' stories and one shots on their way too, I've just been too bleugh to get a lot of writing done. If it's any consolation I feel shitty about how bad I've been recently.**

 **A note! Yeah, another one! So, I guess there's probably a ton of Avatar: The Last Airbender fans who are also reading Adventure Time fan fiction, right? So, the very end of this chapter is for you. Remember that episode of AT where Finn goes into the pillow fort and meets Roselinen and lives in Pillow World for a whole lifetime before being returned? Well, I did strongly hint at this reveal a few times, if you picked up on it. If not... surprise?**

 **Content Warning: violence, language, exposition, vampire lore, feels, character death, minor crossover.**

* * *

Matilda was sleeping soundly, for once not troubled by nightmares or difficulty breathing. Zoe had spent hours standing guard by her bed as she did every night, watching her lover's face unblinkingly like it might be the last time she ever saw it. And then without any warning the door burst open. Before she could move at all Marceline had Matilda up in the air by her throat, eyes blazing crimson with fury.

" _Did you fuck her?"_ she snarled, voice thundering with demon rage.

"Wh- vnr-" Tilda choked. Zoe didn't even remember consciously moving, she was between them before she'd even thought about it and shoving Marceline's hands away from her lover's throat. So she'd finally been forced to choose, and she'd chosen Matilda. That was not a surprise.

"Get your damn hands off her, she's sick." Zoe snarled. And when had she transformed, why was she bigger than Marceline? But not for long. Her Sire assumed her own Hellbeast form and suddenly there were two twelve foot demons grappling in the bedroom while Matilda scrambled out of their way, hands massaging her throat and rasping for help.

" _SHE STOLE MY WIFE!"_ Marceline howled furiously.

"Nobody stole anyone! Calm the fuck down, before I have to hurt you!"

" _I'LL KILL HER!"_

"Try it. Try _me_ , you'll not put another hand on her. Calm down or I will put you down."

Zoe drove her point home by angrily pinning her Sire against the wall and holding her snarling and furious in place until she stilled and shrank back to her regular shape. How she'd managed to defy a direct order from her queen and hold back the most powerful being in existence was anyone's guess but she supposed distantly that abrupt terror for Matilda had given her an extra edge. And now more vampires were appearing in their doorway, drawn irresistibly by the noises of conflict among their own kind.

"Woah, what did you do?" Elliot gasped, staring around at them. In all her centuries she'd never seen anyone best Marceline the way Zoe just had.

"You had better unhand the queen before I destroy you, girl." Johnson added with a scowl and his eyes blazing with protective anger. He would have surged forward to Marceline's defence but Nia laid a calming hand on his shoulder and despite his dislike of being commanded by anyone Johnson stilled at the silent warning from his old friend. But Nia's dark eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Zoe's pale face too, she wouldn't hold him back for long if the girl really was intending to hurt her own Sire. There were only a few unforgivable crimes among vampires and that was one of the oldest of them.

"Put her down, Whitecairns." Nia ordered softly. "You do not want to be mistaken for a threat to the queen. Not now, not when tempers are so short. I would hate for there to be any accidents. Tell us what happened."

"I'm just protecting my mate." Zoe replied stiffly, backing away to block Matilda from Marceline's crimson gaze but with the cold snarl still lacing through her words. "She burst in here shouting accusations, insane things, about Matilda seducing her wife. As if she wouldn't be able to smell another's touch on the queen's skin, as if she _owns_ her and has any say of who she takes to her bed."

"You wouldn't understand, you're not _married!_ " Marceline interrupted angrily. "It's different, you can see who you want but we're committed, we don't cheat!"

"And where in your wedding vows did you promise monogamy?" Zoe asked with a vicious glare for her Sire. "Of everyone here, I expected you at least to be more enlightened."

"So they did commit adultery then. I fucking knew it! And you, you backstabbing piece of shit, you covered for them! Get out of my way before I kill you too!"

"You want to talk about backstabbing, about betrayal? Try being forgotten about for four hundred years because the person who _swore_ they'd come back for you got fucking distracted and forgot you existed! Try only being remembered because your Sire's wife's butler is a shady little bastard with dark connections! You come in here and throw around accusations, threaten people, you have no idea how much we've all suffered because of you! Lay a single hand on Matilda again and I'll crush your skull like a fucking melon."

It could have ended badly for everyone if Stefan hadn't arrived then. Elliot could have done it too but for whatever reason she chose not to intervene, and along with all of her other transgressions he knew he'd never forgive her for that either. But the heavyset blonde man shouldered his way past the undead crowd at the door in time to assess the minds of everyone involved and tackle Marceline before she could destroy her own lineage. He scanned their minds, no time to ask for consent when lives were at stake, and pushed back his revulsion at what he found there to deal with later. He needed to solve the problem in front of him before he could focus on the much bigger issue of the rebels having unlimited access to Bubblegum's memories.

"Garrett did this. Nobody has betrayed anyone." he told Marceline in a rush. "And turning you against each other is what he wanted! By attacking Zoe and Matilda you're playing into his hands, he wants to isolate you from the people closest to you!"

"Garrett... you mean Estelle's lineage?" Matilda spoke up for the first time. She was staring over Zoe's shoulder, eyes wide with fear and a reddening fist shaped bruise already beginning to blossom on the pale skin of her throat.

"He's no simple lineage. He's got a whole gang of his frat brothers backing him up." Zoe supplied. "He's... he bit them, after he'd been Turned. So Estelle's lineage has lineage. Meta-lineage. It makes sense that she's gone crazy with the power. During the first rebellion she kept him hidden, nobody knew he was anything but a normal lineage. And now, now I guess she's grown arrogant and overconfident, she lets Garrett rule as her 'King' and his Zeta Psi gang run around him like adoring puppies."

 _"Abominations."_ Johnson whispered in horror. "To allow lineage to create their own lineage... She's not even trying to hide how unnatural she is. They must be destroyed, all of them."

"Your young princes' axe will taste their blood, I have felt it. My Talent tells me his blade will claim many vampires." Nia reassured him.

"No. Not Finn, he's not going to be part of the fighting. He's just a child."

Marceline had been silent while they spoke, held in place by her lineage brother and trying to understand what was happening. Estelle had lineage, everyone knew that. She was Old Blood, that meant she had been strong enough to live through her Sire dying and their bond breaking and had bound others in her service as lineage. But to allow Garrett to bind this friends to himself while he was bound to her was... Johnson was right to call it an abomination. No Sire could withstand the mental feedback from the lineage of their lineage, especially not if there was a whole fraternity of them. Estelle must have been slowly losing her mind for centuries with Garrett feeding from her power and being supported by his own lineage It was madness to let him do that, even she thought so and she'd defied almost every law vampire society had once upon a time, she'd treated her own lineage as lovers and equals, murdered her Sire, banned the drinking of human blood. But Marceline was different, she always had been. She was their queen. Estelle had her crown but she didn't have the mental authority to maintain that kind of stress on her magic and mind. Marceline almost felt sorry for her. Almost. But she wasn't going to sit back and let Nia comfort Johnson by risking her son's safety, not even hypothetically.

"Marceline, where is Queen Bubblegum?"

Stefan's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she shrugged his hands away from her shoulders.

"The throne room. She wanted to be alone." she replied softly.

"Come on, we'll go and speak with her. However bad this is for you it will be worse for her, she has Garrett's Talent in her head." Stefan sighed. Before they could leave the room Nia drifted forward, slowing their way for a moment.

"I am sorry, Marceline. I tried to tell you. He is a mind bender, he has seen your wife in more detail than you can ever hope to. He knows her as he knows himself now. But he must make himself open to her too, the link goes both ways. Perhaps he has left more than he intended to inside her mind." Nia spoke softly, trailing a comforting hand along Marceline's arm in that unconsciously intimate way that vampires so often used around each other. It reminded the queen of the times many centuries ago now that she'd tasted the dark woman's skin, indulged her physically like a good vampire monarch should. She'd spent too long with mortals, maybe, been too used to monogamy and morals. Perhaps it was time to return to her roots. But the memory of Bonnie's horrified, betrayed face returned to her mind and she shrank back from the beautiful vampire. Maybe one day she'd rule from her bedroom like most of the Old Blood wanted. But not that day, not while she had a wife she still loved even if Bonnie didn't remembered her. Instead she shook her head and turned to her lineage.

"I won't deny that there was a mutual attraction, I wanted her and she wanted me and we both knew it. But I never acted on it. I couldn't hurt you like that, or her either." Matilda murmured. Her eyes were downcast and her hands were cradling her growing belly protectively, where her human child grew. With a sick twist of her stomach Marceline realised she'd been a second or two away from murdering the unborn along with her oldest friends.

"I'm so sorry. I just... I..." she trailed off, unable to defend herself.

"I know. I understand. You're afraid to be alone. And you love her more than anything else." Matilda replied softly. She shuffled forward and held her arms out for a hug although she still didn't manage to meet her Sire's eyes. Marcy allowed herself to lean forward and wrap Matilda into a tight embrace. She buried her face in the redhead's shoulder for a long minute and pressed her eyes closed until the tears retreated back where they'd come from. She couldn't lose face like that, not in front of Nia and Johnson. Finally she let go of Matilda only to discover that Zoe was there to replace her lover a moment later. They'd been through so much, Garrett would have to try much harder if he wanted to tear apart a friendship that had lasted nine hundred years, she thought.

"Come on then. We'll see what can be done."

...

Bonnie didn't understand what was happening and she was tired and scared and very confused which was really only ever going to result in her reacting with anger. She slapped Stefan's hand away from her when he reached out to take her shoulder comfortingly and spun on her heel, marching the length of the throne room in frustration.

"This is insane. It's _bullshit_ , I want to see Tilda." she snarled.

"Please, your majesty. We need to be certain how far back the damage goes. Do you remember the night you were returned from your brain injury and you suffered your first night terror?" the big vampire man asked her gently.

"You mean the night I was rescued by _my wife_ , the woman I have been married to for almost twenty years who I know fine well is _not_ some grey skinned stranger? Stefan, I understand what you're saying to me, but this is madness! I want to speak to Matilda, I order you to let me see her!"

"Your memories are all there but they've been subtly altered. Garrett's a mind bender. He excels at switching memories. You don't remember Marceline because he removed her from your mind. Please, you know I would not lie to you about this." Stefan pleaded.

"I know that you wouldn't. I know that you _think_ this Marceline woman is my wife but I _know_ differently. I remember every single thing about my marriage, all the details are there. I remember Matilda asking me to marry her, I remember the first night we flew together, I remember _everything_. How could I have over a hundred years of fake memories?" she demanded.

"Because he simply replaced me with Tilda in your thoughts." spoke the black haired vampire woman unexpectedly. She was sitting in Matilda's throne with her head in her hands, slumped wearily and defeated. It made Bonnie mad, who the hell did she think she was to sit in her wife's throne? And where was Matilda? "Think about it, Bon. Do you remember where Matilda got your engagement ring?"

"I'll thank you to call me Your Highness, only members of my family are permitted to use my first name. And of course I remember where she got the ring. It was her mother's." Bonnie replied angrily.

"So what happened when she gave you the ring? How did she do it, what did she say?" the stranger pressed, looking up at her with eyes swirling intensely green.

"She, she was away for a day first. Finding it. I think she went to- somewhere she had some family, I-"

Bonnie stuttered to a halt, clutching her head against the sudden pain that flared when she tried to focus more on that memory. She could see Matilda so clearly, the petite redhead dropping smoothly to one knee and announcing she'd been thinking about family and about raising their boys together and that she loved Bonnie's scars, that they were evidence of her strength and bravery. Bonnie could see it all, she could see the box with Matilda's mother's treasured possessions that she'd recovered from her father- but, but he had been a human, he was dead-

The pain was like someone slowly splitting her head open with a woodcutter's axe. Bonnie was on her knees writhing against the agony when she came back to her senses and she pushed the grey hands that tried to gently caress her face away in disgust. _No_ , it made no sense but she remembered it; that was what had happened. Wasn't it? But how, how could that have happened?

"The night you met her, the very first thing she did was sing for you. Do you remember that?" the grey woman was asking in a rush, garbling the words around the harsh pain evident in her voice.

"Yes! I remember, she sang about the White Queen for me, I thought it was a warning!" Bonnie replied desperately.

"Matilda can't sing. Matilda sounds awful, she can't carry a tune in a bucket. And how did she know about the White Queen? That song was written almost two decades before the bombs fell, more than a hundred years before Tilda was even born! You think they had working ancient record players or perfectly tuned guitars in the Tribes? They barely had iron tools!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Bonnie screamed, enraged and agonised.

"How could Matilda have done any of those things? How could you have met her father?" Marceline demanded, all of her frustration and grief spilling over into fury.

"Marcy, stop! You're hurting her!" Stefan yelled, blocking the smaller vampire with his bulk and catching hold of her wrists to keep her still. "Every time you tell her something that contradicts what Garrett did to her brain it damages part of that thought process. You're literally driving her insane!"

Marceline stilled and stopped fighting him, slumping limp in his hands and shivering like she was repressing a sob.

"I know this is real, too, somehow. But I know Matilda is my wife and I want to see her! Why can't I see her?" Bonnie gasped around the pain

"We can't hide it from her forever, Majesty." Peppermint Butler said quietly to the strange woman Bonnie apparently no longer remembered. She nodded, black hair falling into her face and masking her sharp features.

"What? What can't you hide from me? Tell me!" Bonnie demanded as she struggled back to her feet.

"You don't remember, do you? Tilda's sick. The doctor said she's dying."

And just like that Bonnie's world caved in. She collapsed back to the floor, no longer able to move under the weight of grief crushing her. Someone was lifting her; Stefan, she thought distantly. And they were drifting out, away, back to her private rooms where he could talk to her alone and try to assess the damage Garrett had done.

...

"Hullo, Finn."

The voice was flat, hollow. He didn't remember his Mom ever sounding quite like that before. Her shoulders were slumped and head bowed as she sat with her back turned to him on the edge of the roof, gazing out at the magnificent blanket of stars stretching endlessly above them to the horizon where a thin grey glow told him dawn was approaching. He was still dressed in his fancy suit, he'd been sitting up in the rose garden talking to Victoria when he'd heard shouting from inside and found out that his family had fallen to pieces while he wasn't looking. Stefan had been carrying his Mama who was crying uncontrollably against his shoulder and the big vampire had told him what had happened, told him to find his Mom. So he'd left Victoria to rest in his bedroom and come straight up to the roof. He knew where she'd be, she was predictable when she was sad.

"Mom? Why are you out here in the middle of the night? " he asked quietly, coming to sit beside her.

"Because I wanted to be alone."

"Oh. Do you want me to leave?"

She sighed, staring out blankly at nothing for a long minute before replying.

"You probably should. You should leave and never come back, get it over with. But I never said I wasn't selfish, son. I want you here even if I know it's just delaying the inevitable. Even if I know you'll leave me one day, I just don't want that day to be today."

"But I'm not going anywhere, am I?"

"Of course you are. You've been leaving bit by bit since the moment I found you. You just don't see it yet because you're young. Finn, how old am I? " she asked, finally turning to gaze solemnly at him. He wrinkled his nose in confusion, trying to work out the trick in the question.

"Uhh... you're nineteen?" he finally hazarded.

"And how old will I be on my next birthday?"

"You'll still be nineteen. You're a vampire, you don't age."

"So when you're sixty, how old will I be?"

"Nineteen."

"And when you finally die, ancient and wrinkled surrounded by your great grandchildren, how old will I be?"

"You... Oh."

"I should have faced this a long time ago, Finn. Nia tried to warn me but I wouldn't listen. It's in my nature to be left behind. Grod knows I've had enough practice at it by now. And today I was left behind again, by the one person I never dreamed would forget me. By now it should be obvious that it's pointless for me to try told hold on to people. Is this just my life now? Am I destined to just go through the same cycle of being forgotten over and over again until the world ends? Sometimes I think I should just sit here until the sun comes up, stay out here until my ashes blow away. Beat immortality at its own damn game."

She murmured it quietly, eyes never once leaving the worn silver wedding band that had fit snuggly over her left ring finger for as long as he could remember. And that more than anything was what made Finn realise he'd grown up. The night his mother spoke to him adult to adult, allowed him to see that she was hurt and scared and just as lost as he was.

"Mama's gonna get better." he replied confidently.

"Is she? Why? Because I want her to? Because you say so? I wish I could believe that was true, little man. But there's no particular reason she won't just stay this way forever. As long as Garrett lives she'll be under the power of his Talent, her memories are his plaything now."

"Then we'll kill him. Kill Garrett, give Mama her memories back, and everything will be fine again." Finn replied with naive enthusiasm. "Mom, don't cry. I'm gonna fix everything. I'm a hero."

"Your optimism is sweet. Just, when it doesn't work and things just stay broken please try not to be too crushed, ok son? I know you mean well." Marcy replied softly. She allowed him to slide his arm around her and draw her into a hug, too broken and worn down to fight it.

The small trapdoor on the other end of the building that lead up to the roof closed slowly and the silent watcher retreated to her rooms, wondering how to feel. That boy was her son, she remembered the first time she ever held him, she remembered bathing him as a baby and teaching him to read and kissing him goodnight so many times. And that dark haired vampire woman was a stranger. Bonnie knew it was a result of the rebel vampire's magic, knew she'd had her mind screwed with. But she'd felt nothing when she locked eyes with Marceline, when she'd screamed in shock and terror at finding a stranger lying in her bed. More than anything Bonnie wanted to curl up in her wife's loving arms and rest. She wanted Matilda. But that was one thing she couldn't have. Bonnie swallowed down the panic and grief in the back of her throat and went to bed, although the sun was up and the day was well under way long before she fell asleep.

...

He left at first light, striding across the early morning countryside without even noticing the sparkle of dew drops on the grass or the dramatic glory of another brilliant sunrise. Not today. Head bowed and joints cracking painfully with age he simply plodded on. Today Billy wasn't a hero, he was just a man weighed down by grief and time. And there was the palace up ahead gleaming like a champagne mirage in the dawn mist. Nobody had missed them, nobody had even wondered why they'd been absent from Princess Phoebe's birthday celebration or had ignored the summons that came with the warning of vampire attack before that. And he knew the queens had more than enough to worry about without him adding to their woes but there was nothing he could do, time waited for no man. Or woman.

With arthritic hands Billy curled a fist and knocked on the town gate before being ushered inside by the Banana Guards; distantly behind the weight of sadness in his mind he made a mental note to remind Queen Bubblegum that they were far too trusting about who they let in through the day. Nobody checked it was really him and that could be a dangerous mistake if the vampires found a way around their weakness to sunlight. But soon the knowledge of his quest was occupying his thoughts again and Billy plodded on towards the palace proper with slumped shoulders and a bowed head.

Peppermint Butler met him at the main entrance and efficiently ushered him into a reception room while Billy waved away the offer of refreshments. He had no space to worry about more than delivering his message and returning as quickly as possible.

"I'm afraid Queen Bubblegum is... indisposed." the candy butler told him. Something about the way he said that had Billy peering at him curiously; Peps was avoiding his eyes and fidgeting more than usual, a sure sign he was hiding something.

"Oh. Are her migraines bothering her again?" the old hero asked listlessly.

"Uhh. Sort of. Um. Anyway, I'll send someone down to formally greet you, we expected you before now. Are Olgar and Eagle Mask not with you?" Peps added. He glanced around like Billy might be hiding them under his chair or something but the giant shook his head regretfully.

"Just me today." he replied softly.

"I see. Well. I'll go see who's awake, I'm sure someone will be."

Billy barely noticed he was alone again, he was too lost in his own head. After an indeterminate amount of time the door opened again and a voice spoke.

"Uncle Billy! I'm so glad you came! Where were you last night? Something awful happened and now everything is donked up, did you know Finn got Victoria pregnant too? And Mama lost her memories, she got attacked by a rebel vampire. I... I could have used your help, I'd have liked someone to talk to. Billy? What's wrong?"

It was Phoebe, stuttering to a confused halt as she took in the grim expression on her uncle's face. He raised his eyes to her own, so young and still so innocent, and shook his head wearily.

"Your aunt Eagle Mask is dying." Billy told her quietly without preamble. No sense in trying to soften it for the child, she needed to know the truth. Phoebe stared back at him with her mouth open and eyes wide in shock.

"Oh Grod, no, they got her too?" the princess whispered in horror. It was almost enough to pull the tiniest rueful smile to his lips.

"No, child. She's just old, it's her time. And she'd like to see you all again before the end."

It was a sombre procession that left the palace an hour or so later. Billy led, with Finn walking beside him and Marceline drifting along underneath a huge black parasol with her pale face arranged into perfect blankness. Only her eyes gave away her internal turmoil; Billy wished there was anything at all he could do for her, or for Bubblegum. They both looked so broken and this extra grief on top of everything else they were dealing with must be crippling. Behind Marceline came three more vampires, three he'd never met before who were apparently bodyguards for the royal children, followed by their own vampire bodyguards or servants or... Billy had no idea how vampire society was organised but something about the three when he looked at them drew his eyes much more strongly than the creeping, cringing silhouettes that followed them. Bringing up the rear were Bubblegum and Phoebe, riding on a magically stretched Jake. The queen was still weak and tired from her blood loss the night before and it seemed there was no quick fix for her memory loss. Everything else was there but her wife had been altered in her mind in what Billy considered to be a cowardly attempt to cause discord in the palace. From what his niece had told him it hadn't done more than piss Marceline off for a few hours before spurring her even harder to destroy her enemies and return her wife's memories. Nobody seemed to be completely certain if that was even possible though, if killing this Garrett creature would undo his Talent or if there was some other way to repair the queen's mind. She'd already been through so much.

Soon they came up the mountain path into the village and Billy's thoughts returned to his dying friend as inevitably as they had for the whole of the last week. The whole village was eerily quiet, faces appeared in the windows of the long houses as the procession of mourners passed but nobody called a greeting or came out to meet them. A baby cried and was hurriedly hushed; other than that the only noise was the scuff of feet on flagstones and the wind in the trees. Finally they came to one of the last houses on the village outskirts; a long, low wattle-and-daub building surrounded by beds of snowy white flowers that swirled restlessly in the breeze as they passed. The new vampires hung back outside at a quiet order from their queen and only the royal family entered, trailed by Billy.

Eagle Mask lay in a bed in the main room, surrounded by her family. To one side Olgar tearfully clasped her hand and to the other Caleb and his sister Astrid knelt by her bed and spoke in quiet voices. Eagle turned her head very carefully as the door opened, smiling beneath her mask when she recognised the family.

"Hello, little man." she rasped with a smile when she saw Finn with his hair bound up in the same braid her husband wore. "Come closer, I can barely see you."

Finn joined Caleb where he knelt by the bed as the rest of the family trooped in behind him. Eagle reached out a frail hand to grasp his for a moment.

"Aunt Eagle, you're not really gonna die, are you?" he asked with a definite tremble to his lip.

"I am indeed." she confirmed weakly. "I'm glad you could all come. Do you know, your family has made me feel more alive for these last years of my life than I had since the Honour Guard disbanded? I wanted to thank you."

"But your mask." Jake added, coming forward too. "Doesn't the mask keep you alive? Immortal?"

She laughed, and it was a thin sound echoing through a frail body but still full of genuine warmth and humour.

"Jacob, sweet puppy. Everything dies, in the end. But that isn't something to be sad about, it's part of living. It's time for me to go home."

They spent the day with her, reading to her, talking about their shared memories, describing the flowers her eyes were now too weak to make out. Marceline and Bubblegum took every care that their own personal grievances should be put aside for their friend; they had both lost people enough times not to want to cause a scene at that moment no matter that it was painful for them both to be in the same room as each other. And as the shadows began to lengthen and the light slanting through the window took on the golden glow of evening Eagle Mask motioned her husband forward and with his help she half sat and he half lifted her upright.

"Take the mask off, Olgar." she told him softly.

With shaking hands he reached out and unclasped the bronze mask where it was held in place at the back of her head. It fell away to reveal an old woman, sharply lined with age but still handsome and with a sparkle in her blue eyes that told of her humour and intellect. She smiled at them all and rolled her shoulders.

"So good to have a little air on my skin." Eagle rasped in a frail voice. She allowed her friends and family to embrace her one by one and placed a soft kiss on each cheek before Olgar wrapped his thick arms around her and she closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest.

"So strong, my beautiful man. I loved you the moment I met you." she whispered to him. "Don't grieve for me, Olgar. We had such good times together. Goodnight my sweet one."

She pressed a final kiss against his cheek before closing her eyes one last time and greeting Death with a smile. He took her hand and lead her up and away, in a direction that had always been there but she'd simply never noticed before.

"Will you come to the next world? Or do you want to go back home and take the adventure on its way to you?" Death asked conversationally. She considered for a moment.

"I'd like to see my brother again. What were we doing? It's been so long."

"You were playing with the water, you fell from your canoe." Death reminded her. It was hard to tell if his skull's fixed grin grew wider at the memory of another time and another place completely.

"Oh, yes that sounds like me. Ah. I... won't drown the moment I return, will I?"

"You have adventures waiting."

"I suppose that means 'no'. Then, let's go."

There was movement and colour and the many faces of Grod and then there was icy cold water all around, her lungs were on fire and her and her vision was turning black and- _Death couldn't lie, could he? Was this drowning?_

A hand closed around her flailing wrist and pulled her towards the glittering light of the surface just as the last threads of consciousness darkened in her mind. When she opened her eyes she was wrapped in a sealskin and sitting in a familiar canoe, drifting between ice bergs with her older brother rubbing her back worriedly while she coughed up salt water.

"What where you thinking?" he berated her angrily. "After Mom died and then Dad left, you can't just go throwing yourself into the sea like that! How come every time you play with water I end up getting wet?"

"Sokka, I-"

"Save your breath, Katara. Come on, we're going home. How am I supposed to explain to Gran Gran if you drown trying to mess around with your stupid water magic?"

She watched the ice drift past as he sailed, wondering about the vivid drowning dream she'd had about being a hero in a distant green land. There'd been a man with purple skin and a smile that made her heart sing, there was a woman coloured like the sunset and a monochrome woman and a golden baby and they were somehow a source of great joy in her life. She'd had too many adventures to count, she'd lived for years and died at a great old age surrounded by her friends and family. But when Katara slipped her sealskin gloves off and examined her hands they were every bit as smooth and supple as a fourteen year old could expect. Once she was certain Sokka wasn't paying her any attention she stretched a finger out over the grey waves, concentrated, and a single jet of water leaped up into a graceful curve before settling back into the sea. Katara smiled; she'd missed her water bending. By the time they'd reached the village again she'd almost forgotten about the strange dream of the other life she'd found by swimming through a door in the seabed all those years ago when she'd been so scared to drown, just that morning. But the memory of that warm man and his wonderful smile stayed with her, warming the back of her mind and her brain with quiet love. And so Eagle Mask went on to her next big adventure, returning to the world she'd originally come from.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys. I'm sorry for the delay in posting and really in writing at all. I've had some personal stuff going on and honestly I'm not even sure its resolved yet. So, there's a chance that if things go badly I might be slow posting for a while. I'm going to finish the stories I've started though, I hate when authors leave things unfinished.**

 **There's a direction I'm going with this and it's not... well, just whatever you think is? Please bear in mind that I'm not CS Lewising you, there's no hidden imagery or any subliminal messages. Just I have a plan with it and I hope it all makes sense by the end.**

 **Content Warning: Violence, foreshadowing, plot, Viking mythology.**

* * *

As the last of the direct sunlight bled from the sky Caleb Stonebrow completed pouring the wide salt circle around the village and stared out at the mountainous horizon. He was the village chief, he was descended from the two most powerful Viking heroes in living memory. And somewhere beneath all that he was still a scared little boy crawling into his mother's bed for a hug when the thunder woke him in the night. There was no point trying to hide the shaking in his shoulders or the evidence of tears on his cheeks when he heard footsteps approaching from behind him and besides, he didn't want to. It would be an insult to his mother's memory.

"I thought very highly of your mother, you know."

Caleb turned, although he already knew it was Queen Bubblegum who'd come to comfort him.

"I know. And she thought very highly of you. You're not as sweet and innocent as you seem, but Mom looked past that. She admired your strength and cunning. And your excellent taste in women."

He'd been hoping to raise a small smile but the pink woman simply hummed thoughtfully.

"She approved of my marriage?" she asked eventually, looking up to meet Caleb's lavender eyes again.

"Very much, your highness. She saw how much Marceline meant to you, how much you meant to each other. She knew that beneath all the rumours and misdirection you were both good women and fine rulers. Everyone benefits from having two such excellent queens leading us."

Caleb chose his words as carefully as he knew how, but it was evident that something he'd said was causing the woman discomfort. If he'd been a gambling man the big Viking might even have hedged that she was carefully concealing some terrible emotional pain beneath the calm exterior she projected. But he'd lost his mother not an hour earlier and Caleb couldn't bring himself to dwell on anything else for more than a couple of seconds. His hands felt strange, he realised. Warm, almost numb, so huge and strong and still unable to shape the world to how he wanted, a world where his mother still lived. How could her things still be in his parents' long house? Her clothes still held her shape and smell, the worn flesh of her body was still lying peacefully in her bed. But the spark that made her _her_ , that was gone. Grief overwhelmed him like a sudden wave and he was pulled under, falling to his knees with the sobs that wracked his body as slim, pink arms wrapped him into a hug.

"I sh-shouldn't cry." he stuttered around his tears. "Mom went to the next life, she was a true warrior and she feasts with Odin Allfather in the eternal halls. B-but there's so much I wish I could have told her. She was my hero, she was my whole world when I was a child. How can someone just stop existing when they're loved so deeply? How can things just change in the blink of an eye like that?"

"How indeed." Bubblegum murmured, though it was mostly to herself. Her eyes were on the long house further into the village where a stranger she was married to comforted Olgar and prepared Eagle's body for her funeral pyre.

The salt circle was important, Bonnie knew. Night was falling and they would need to be in the town square to tend to the funeral pyre. A blaze that big on the mountainside would attract attention from miles away and they wanted no gate crashers. Salt, sure, it sounded simple enough and it was a barrier more usually used against demons. But it would work in a different way for the village, make the whole area within the huge salt circle a single dwelling place for those inside for the night. And that meant no vampires could enter without permission. Bonnie was trying to ignore the nagging thought in the back of her mind that told her it would also trap her there all night with Marceline. There was just no avoiding the grey woman, as much as she'd have liked to. Bonnie didn't enjoy causing anyone pain and the agony was obvious in the other woman's green eyes whenever they had to be close. But as she'd always been aware, responsibility demanded sacrifice and this time her responsibility to the mountain Vikings and t Olgar meant sacrificing her own persona; comfort. A vivid flashback to that awful night when Matilda had found her cradling her own severed hand on the forest floor burst across her mind; no, not Matilda, she knew that really it had been Marceline-

Bonnie fell to her knees with a muted cry as the conflict of memories seared through her brain like a lightning strike. Caleb was scrambling to his feet and for a stomach churning moment her vision turned white with agony until she regained some internal equilibrium and shook her head to his hurried inquiry.

"No, I'm fine, just a headache. I get them a lot, since my injury." she explained hurriedly. "I'm fine now, really. We'd better get back to the village square."

As they approached it was obvious that Phoebe, Astrid and Marceline had finished preparing Eagle's body for cremation; the dead woman lay pale and peaceful atop a pyre of fir logs and kindling large enough to half fill the square. The heat from the blaze would be vicious when it reached its peak and nobody but Olgar would stand in its glow for long. That was his right as Elder and bereaved husband.

Caleb took his place next to his father and sister as the rest of the villagers ringed them in silent respect, heads bowed and bare. Bonnie felt Jake's paw slither into her hand and she gave him a gentle squeeze in thanks for the comfort as Olgar began to speak in a loud, carrying voice.

"Odin Allfather, hear my prayer. At this time a great warrior lies slain in righteous battle. I have shed the hot blood of foes with this woman and felt the strength of her arm and sword. She has taken many mortal wounds and survived by means of magic alone; her place in Valhalla has been bought and paid for many times over. Odin, take this daughter of the sea into the sacred halls of Valhalla that she may feast for time eternal with the heroes of old. Odin, let your Valkyries descend and claim her undying soul, let her rest in the halls of our fathers. I shed my blood to you in sacrifice, Odin Allfather. I am Olgar, son of Harald the Hero, devoted husband of Eagle Mask The Fearsome. Accept my blood and take this soul. A worthier warrior has never given herself to battle. So I pray, Allfather."

He pulled the same old carved hunting knife from its place at the side of his boot and ran the blade across his palm, squeezing a few drop of his own blood onto Eagle's still, peaceful face and using his fingertip to carefully draw the three interlocking triangles of the valknut onto her cold cheek just as he had for Marceline years earlier. As he had so many times in his long life, for his father and mother, his brothers and more kinsmen and comrades than he could count. The valknut would allow her soul into Valhalla whenever she chose to come; he knew there was still more of his wife's journey for her to walk in another world. But he also had faith he would see her again in the halls of the Allfather. Eagle was steadfast, as steadfast in love as she had been in all things. Truly she had been the most honourable of the Honour Guard.

Olgar took the flaming torch that his son handed him and held it to the kindling until the pyre caught then stood back as the sacred flames grew around his wife's body. He knew just as much as anyone else that they would attract unwanted attention with the smoke and light but just for one night he had no strength to fight. Olgar stood facing the blaze as it grew fiercer and let the heat from the fire scour the steady trickle of tears that streamed down his face. He would not leave her side until the ashes were cold, or until undead hands tore him away if their defenses failed. And he would welcome a glorious death in battle as all true Vikings did if that was what the Norns, the ancient Viking goddesses of fate, had woven into the fabric of his future. For tonight though Olgar knew what his destiny was; he would be a grieving widower. As the fire grew and night fell he stood facing the flames. He didn't even turn hours later when the sounds of battle thickened the air around him.

...

"A salt circle to keep us out. Clever."

"Not clever enough. Come on out and fight like a real vampire. What you so afraid of, huh? Afraid we'll kick your ass?"

Marceline didn't bother to reply; the Zeta Psi vamps couldn't do more than taunt her as they had for hours. Everyone else had retreated to the very centre of the village and she only approached them under cover of invisibility just in case they had some unknown Talent that could compel her to cross the salt circle. They didn't even know for sure she was there, they were just shouting insults at the air in hopes she could hear them. And she was mad, mad enough to consider going out there and killing them despite all her instincts telling her to stay safe and not take unnecessary risks. But it was worth waiting when after three hours of the two Zeta Psi scouts yelling insults they finally turned to one another, defeated.

"So... what now? We're supposed to just waste a night's hunting?" the shorter scout asked his companion.

"Guess so. Garrett said to stay put, you can't seriously be thinking about going against his orders, right? Besides we have plenty of cattle to eat back at base, should've filed up before we headed out if you were hungry." the other scout shrugged.

"And miss out on the opportunity for a genuine hunt? You've got no imagination, Frank. There's a whole village of big, feral semi-humans just past this barrier. How long has it been since we tasted wild blood? If there's one village of them then there's bound to be more. I say we ditch this place and go find somewhere less defended. Take them by surprise. The queen isn't going anywhere tonight, she's holed up here with her dumb kids. Go out, hunt for a while, drink our fill and be back here in a couple of hours. Then report back by daylight that there was no movement. Garrett won't ever need to know."

"Garrett always knows, you idiot! And what if you lose track of time again? What if someone hears about our little detour? Stop thinking with your fangs, man. You're gonna get us both killed or-"

He didn't finish the sentence because next second his head had spun away from his body in a spray of cold blood and even as he slumped to the floor in a pile of ashes Marceline was sliding back into visibility and hauling her axe back up into position to deal with the second scout.

"Should have listened to him, Frank." she growled with a satisfied grin for finally having the opportunity to take her many frustrations out on someone.

"SHE'S PAST THE CIRCLE! QUICK, GET-"

Frank's head came loose too and before it hit the ground she was back within the safety of the salt ring and invisible again. They wanted to make themselves easy targets? That was fine by Marceline. She stiffened in surprise at the next noise that floated through the night though. Frank's yell must have alert someone on the other side of the circle. It sounded like howling. And then she remembered that the rebels had werewolves and werewolves weren't undead in the same way, they could cross any line they wanted and _dammit she was so fucking stupid for not thinking of that-_

Heavily armed Viking warriors were already pouring out of their long houses when she turned in horror back to the main square. The crackle of Eagle's funeral pyre was lost among the yelling and snarling, howling, the clash of metal on bone and fangs on flesh. And _no_ , the kids were there and Bonnie was leading a charge forward armed with a short Viking style sword, the last thing Marceline had ever wanted was her family to be in the thick of the fighting. She rushed forward with a scream and split open the skull of the first wolf to leap with bared fangs at her wife's throat.

"GET BACK INSIDE!" Marceline yelled between wild swings of her axe.

"NOT A CHANCE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK, WE ALL NEED TO FIGHT!" Bonnie yelled back furiously. Next second she'd darted in front of Phoebe's exposed side and caught a lunging wolf in the jaw with the sword. It fell back with a whimper and Phoebe whirled on the fallen wolf in horror.

"Mama, no! They don't want to attack us, they're being forced!"

"If you won't fight then get back in the long house!"

"Mama-"

"I'm not asking you, Phoebe! I'm ordering! Inside, now! Take your little brother!"

It looked like the fire woman wanted to argue but Nia swept out of the darkness and in a single instant locked eyes with her queen, nodded and then flung an arm each around Finn and Phoebe and carried them back to safety inside the main village hall. There was no more time to argue because another wave of snarling wolves had sprung from the darkness and without a second thought Bonnie caught one through its exposed underside when it lunged at Marceline's back.

 _Just like old times_ , the ghost of a memory in the back of her brain whispered. Except, no, because Matilda was her wife not-

She fell to the ground screaming against the instantaneous agony tearing through her brain and it was only Marcy's quick dive and spiral up until they were far above the village rooftops that prevented her meeting the waiting wolf fangs.

"You have to stop thinking about her, it's fucking your brain up every time." Marceline told her hurriedly, keeping her eyes averted. Logically Bonnie knew the other woman was right and the rational part of herself agreed. But how could she just avoid thinking at a time like this, when she'd been a moment away from losing her wife- no, a stranger- but-

"Bon! Seriously, focus on the werewolves!"

Bonnie became aware that someone was yelling at her and shaking her by the shoulders. She must have blacked out with pain.

"...Need my sword." she muttered.

"In a moment. What you need is to recover, there are plenty of people holding off the attack. No vampires can get in and there's only a few wolves. It's not full moon, this is a voluntary transformation. They're still in their own minds. And maybe Phoebe was right, they don't seem to have the same bloodlust I'd have expected from a pack of werewolves."

"So then if they're being forced to attack us why would the vampires send in a group of unwilling slaves? Alone and unsupervised to the people most likely to give them shelter? Unless..." Bonnie broke off, staring out into the night.

"Unless...?" Marceline prompted.

"They're a distraction. Send in some wolves to keep us busy while th vampires find a way to get past the salt circle. The werewolves are fighting out of fear because they know any minute now their vampire masters are going to break through. Oh _fuck_ \- CALEB! THE CIRCLE IS BREAKING!"

The warning came too late; a moment later twenty or more Zeta Psi vampires hurtled out of the darkness to reinforce the wolves. Marceline didn't stop to find out how they'd gotten past the circle. She needed to get back to the fighting. Later she'd remember it in weirdly specific detail; the roughness of the leather grip when she tightened her fist around the neck of her axe, the frenzied pump of Bonnie's heart against her vampire awareness as adrenaline surged through the other woman, the fierce heat of the fire at her back mingling with the cold mountain breeze that stung the corners of her eyes blowing from the north. Then everything blurred together like time had sped up and she was back on the ground with the familiar clouds of fresh vampire ashes covering her face and hands when rebel after rebel lost their head or heart to her axe. Bonnie was somewhere in the fighting too, she'd reclaimed her sword and pushed back into the fray. Marceline tripped on a fallen body; she didn't stop to see if it was werewolf or Viking. Not vampire, she knew that because it hadn't turned to ash, but someone was dead and they would need to build more funeral pyres come morning.

And then the night turned an unnatural dark and a voice she hadn't heard thicken with bloodlust in centuries was in her ear, telling her to get her wife inside, get the holy woman and the water witch. For a second it made no sense until she realised it was Johnson who'd spoken as he changed his shape in front of her. An involuntary shiver went down her spine as the call to retreat was raised. The Plague Lord was finally restored to the height of his power and not a single ally could be left behind in his path. Marceline looked around through the panic until she saw a flash of pink, grabbed her wife as hurriedly as she could and hacked a corridor through the press of rebel bodies to the central long house.

...

"What's he doing?" Finn breathed, staring out of the window beneath Nia's arm. She shivered at the question. It brought back a thousand memories more horrific than she'd ever wanted to relive.

"Safe-Deliverance Johnson is a man with a tragic past, little prince. We are all people who have lived through things." she replied, never taking her eyes off the tall, gaunt figure now surrounded by swirling clouds of darkness. "He was the sole survivor of a devastating plague as a child and wherever he went sickness and death soon followed. By the time he was bitten Johnson believed himself cursed. And when his Talent manifested... Did you know that ancient humans used to fear vampires as the bringers of epidemic diseases? And that was because of Johnson. Keep watching, boy, he will demonstrate for you."

Finn barely even registered that the door of the long house had opened and his parents had tumbled inside along with his older brother and most of the Vikings. Marceline was barking orders and shouting for Canyon and Olgar's daughter Astrid of all people; it made no sense but Finn didn't have time to wonder what his Mom was up to because Johnson had turned in the firelight and the young prince caught his breath when he saw the man's face.

"The Plague Lord." Nia murmured reverently.

"What happened to him?" Phoebe gasped.

"Johnson was damaged as a human by what he lived through. We all were, all us vampires. Maybe it's just dumb luck but each and everyone of us has been through darkness on our journey to undeath. Everywhere he went afterward his family died sickness and death followed until by the time he was bitten he believed himself cursed. His Talent is his disease, all diseases. Did you not wonder why only he, Lady Bysshe and myself had come to your mother's aid so far? It is because of all her subjects we were most faithful. The fated ones. We saw her for what she was and know ourselves for what we are. Johnson has memorized every word of the ancient books of prophecy, he knows who he is and what his fate will be. Elliot also knows though she denies it to her last from fear. She was the one who brought us the red-drinking and caused the great famine that began this war too many years ago. And for myself... They cut me as a child. Did you know that?"

Finn shook his head, he was confused but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the grotesque figure in the firelight that had once been his undead bodyguard. Johnson's skin hung in loose grey folds from his bones and where the shadow caught the lines of his face huge open welts could be seen leaking pus and poison. His fingers had elongated into twisted claws and a miasma of swirling blackness around his was melting the flesh of the few unlucky Zeta Psi rebels who hadn't turned tail and ran at the sight of him. When the flesh had gone their bones began to slowly liquefy and Finn swallowed down vomit but he still couldn't look away.

"I was six years old. My mother took me to the medicine woman and they did unspeakable things to me. I was told it was tradition and I did not question it, not until I held my own daughter in my arms just ten years later and swore I would hunt down and kill ever butcher who ever laid a blade against the skin of a child. It caused a war in my village and soon the whole country was in turmoil. And I was bitten and became a vampire. It took a long time to develop the Talent of knowing the past and future of a blade just from touching it and I used that to track down the descendants of the ones who'd hurt me. Thanks to Johnson's countrymen's insatiable hunger for slave grown sugar it took me another hundred years to find them. I drank the blood of every shaman and child butcher in the slave town before gorging myself on their masters. So began a series of bloody revolts. After I'd had my fill I came to the mainland from the sugar islands just in time to see an eruption of violence over whether my race should be kept as possessions by his race. War follows me just as disease follows Johnson and hunger follows Lady Bysshe. And we all follow your mother. Do you understand?" Nia finished, turning to fix him with her fathomless, bewitching stare.

"No." Finn replied honestly.

"But you will. When the time is right. Your mother herself doesn't believe, not yet, not until the end. But Johnson and I, we have seen it from the start. And that is why we knew this war was coming. And you... I have been trying to figure out where you fit into this, Prince Finn. And I have a theory. You are as innocent as a lamb, pure in blood and intent. And-"

"Finn! Are you hurt? Oh Grod, I was so worried. Come away, don't look. Johnson's Talent is disgusting, he'll destroy them in the worst possible ways. The battle's over, where's your brother?"

It was Marceline, flinging her arms around his neck in relief and hugging him close before pulling Phoebe into the same embrace. Jake stepped forward out of the crowd of confused Vikings who'd also flooded the hall with his left paw in a makeshift sling but still walking under his own power.

"Here. Its not as bad as it looks, I caught the edge of a boot when I was stretched and I think I sprained my paw. Where's Mama?"

"She's over there, she's pissed I pulled her out of the fight when her pain came on suddenly." Marcy replied, indicating the other side of the room where her estranged wife was standing next to Billy with her back to them all talking in an urgent whisper to Astrid and Canyon. Astrid pulled out a blade similar to her father's and slashed across her palm with deft efficiency. Every vampire in the room tensed visibly and turned away from the fresh blood that she squeezed into the villge's huge water tank at the end of the room.

"Rán, mother of oceans. By your blessing let the unclean be cleansed and accept the gift of the dead into your cold embrace. By my blood let these waters act as a conduit for your eternal power, in the name of the Vikingfolk and Odin Allfather. I am Astrid Warhawk, daughter of Eagle Mask the Fearsome. Accept my offering and bless these waters with your power." Astrid announced in a ringing voice.

"Of course. Holy water." Marceline murmured to herself. It was almost like a ghost of her old smile flickered across her face for a moment before she turned back to her children. "Now you'll get to see what simple unthinking belief will do to people who allow it to have power over them. The vampires believe water carrying the blessing of a deity can harm them and so it will. Watch. Johnson will be gettint too tired to keep going soon, he can't maintain his Talent alone without consuming blood and he won't break his vow. This should hold off the rest of them until sunrise."

As she'd been explaining Astrid and Canyon were struggling outside carrying the huge vat of holy water between them, keeping well back from the swirling black mass of poison that indicated Johnson had fallen to his knees from the strain. And with her arms stretched out to the sky Canyon closed her eyes in concentration. The water rose from its wooden tub in a lazy wave and hung in the air for a moment.

"By the power of Rán, the ancient Groddess of the oceans, this water carries the blessing of the divine! Let the waters of Rán wash away the unclean!" Astrid announced as loudly as possible. There was a pause, and then Canyon opened her eyes and the water flew in every direction around them and only just over the top of Johnson's bowed head, away into the gloom even as the sky in the east brightened with the approaching daybreak. There was simply no more time for the rebels to attack, the few who hadn't already slunk back to their Sire were either burned by the holy water or the growing sunlight. The first light of day brought the first real victory in the war but when Marceline remembered the way Bonnie had shrunk back from her the moment her feet retouched the ground it felt more like a defeat.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I want to thank everyone for being so patient and understanding, you guys are awesome. But I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel now so hopefully we'll get back to a more regular updating schedule. I really want to write a lot more than I've been doing recently.**

 **A quick note to a guest reviewer: hola! You're the only person so far to say they have an idea about the four vampires and what they represent. And it isn't really a spoiler to tell you that you're right, in a way. But also to remember that Nia's looking at it from an ancient, pre-Mushroom War perspective. And how Finn fits into it might not be how anyone expects, least of all her and Johnson who have some very set ideas about how things will go down. Ahh I love subverting expectations ^^**

 **And without further ado, I have a recommendation for you all. I don't normally do this but I'm reading a story that just feels too damn good not to share with you, for the people not already reading it. It's called Rehearsal and it's written by the fabulous CountingWithTurkeys and I can't recommend strongly enough that you go read it and send them some lovely reviews because it's one of my favourite things on the site right now and it deserves some appreciation. In-universe Bubbline that's right up to the second, paced beautifully, amazingly written and has a brilliant plot? Yes. All the yes.**

 **Content Warning: plot, assault, prophesy, off-screen character death.**

* * *

It took most of the morning for the ashes to be swept away and the bodies of fallen vikings and werewolves to be separated for cremation. Only the vampires could touch the corpses of the wolves for fear that their blood and saliva might still contaminate any mortal even after the creatures were killed. There were eight vikings who'd survived with bites from the werewolves and nobody seemed sure if they would have contracted the curse or not. Astar, Astrid's eldest son, was among the bitten and he was quiet and withdrawn; he took himself to the edge of his grandmother's still smoldering funeral pyre and stood a silent vigil with Olgar, refusing to let his mother examine or dress his wounds. Marceline wished there was anything she could say to ease the young man's suffering but guilt was churning thickly through her guts. The rebels and their werewolf slaves wouldn't have attacked if she hadn't been there, they wouldn't have known when to send in the wolves and break the salt circle if she hadn't taken her anger and frustration out on the Zeta Psi scouts. Garrett must have been close, his agony when the Sire bond to his lineage broke must have been the signal to begin their attack because nobody except Marceline would be stupid enough to leave protection just to kill a couple of scouts. It made too much sense to her once she was thinking about it with hindsight, it was what she would have done in the same situation. If she felt comfortable leaving their sanctuary then it meant their guard was down and the attack could begin. It explained his absence from the assault too, he must have been somewhere in the trees recovering from the inevitable agony of having his Sire bonds severed. She'd heard that it hurt less when there were more remaining members of a lineage to help absorb the Sire's pain; Marceline savagely hoped that wasn't true and that Garrett had felt more agony than he could process when his scouts died, the way he'd made her feel when he connection to Matilda had been torn from her mind.

It was a weary group that finally returned to the Candy Palace once the midday sun was at its highest and there was no chance of further attack. The ever present ache of longing tugged at Marceline just as much as her exhaustion every time she let her mind dwell on her estranged wife. Bonnibel hadn't so much as glanced in her direction since the last of the rebels had fled into the gloom of dawn and the distance between them was growing intolerable. Every fibre of her being ached to reach out and just take Bonnie's hand, cup her warm cheek and press a chaste kiss to her perfect lips. In a way it felt similar to the physical death her body had undergone when she'd been Turned. Every movement was agony and her heart was dying slowly in her chest all over again. Marceline had always known that while her wife truly loved her there were some ways that their bond could only be one sided. It was because of her demon heritage; Marceline would always need Bonnibel more than the candy golem needed her. That was just a fact, it was just how things were. The candy woman drew her irresistibly back time and again even when she knew nothing but pain was waiting for her. Demons mated for life and once a soul bond was established nothing and nobody could break the attachment. It was the reason her father had never sought a mate from his own people after her mother died although she knew there were several lines far older than herself who could trace their origins back to Hunson's youth. And it was why she had never been able to settle with anyone else, why she'd always known in the back of her mind that even if Ash hadn't been a psycho she'd have left him eventually because he just wasn't Bonnie. Nobody else could be, and now the only person she could truly love for the rest of eternity had forgotten her completely. Her heart may be long dead and as cold as a stone but Marceline still felt as though it had been slowly torn from her ribcage when Bonnie avoided her gaze.

She was brought sharply back from her reverie y voices hailing them from up ahead as they approached the palace and despite the glaring midday sun Marceline made out three figures hurtling towards them. One was obviously a Grimmalk and she bared her teeth in dislike, why where they always involved? But the cat demon carried on its shoulders the unmistakable form of Peppermint Butler with his coat tails flapping in the wind, clinging on tightly less he should fal and craxk his glazing. And the third figure made her brow contract in foreboding. Unless she was very much mistaken, and Marceline took pains not to be mistaken about that family in particular, the man with them was Daven, Crown Prince of the Fire Kingdom and her adopted daughter's biological brother.

"Your Highnesses!" Peppermint Butler called the moment he was within shouting distance. "Terrible news! All night long there have been attacks on settlements right across Ooo, we're past full capacity with refugees already!"

Bonnie had already broken into a run to meet them as quickly as possible and Firefly was hot on her heels; Marceline flew along after them, determined she would get to the bottom of what was going on one way or another. She arrived just in time to hear the Flame Prince greet his sister like an old friend and inform her;

"And our father has allied with the rebels. Phoebe, he wants to bring you home. By force if he has to. I ran away. I couldn't leave you in danger, not now that I know you and how happy you are here." He turned to Bonnie and Marceline and swept down into a blazing bow. His voice fell back into the long practised rhythms and cadences of the formal royal language when he addressed the queens. "And if it please your Highnesses, I beg sanctuary under the ancient fosterlings laws. I am no defenceless child but my own father seeks to harm me for my defiance and I know your reputations as good and fair. I offer my own small personal band of loyal bodyguards and whatever assistance I may be in this war, and throw myself upon your mercy."

Bonnie was gripping her left wrist in her usual unconscious gesture of distress and Marcy ached to go to her more fiercely than ever. Instead she could only stand idle and wait for the Candy queen to make her decision.

"Where the stuff are we going to put you? Another treehouse?" she finally sighed, but she waved for him to stand anyway. "If you'll swear loyalty to me and my family for the duration of this war, you are most welcome."

Daven got back to his feet and bowed formally before turning to Phoebe and pulling her into a hug.

"No more funeral fires, little sister. He can watch you through the flames, no more candles or lit hearths. Come on, we need to plan. And you need to explain to me why there is a hairless cat warrior standing guard in your rose garden inquiring if you forgot last night's lesson in fireflies?"

"Yrran! I forgot all about him, oh Grod, has he just been standing there all night? It feels like my birthday ball was a lifetime ago, has it only been two nights? Whatever, come on, we need to get home."

There wasn't anything else Marceline could do than trail after her wife and daughter as they hurried up to the palace. Already things were moving forward without her, she was fading into the background of her own life. Phoebe had something going on with the naked Grimmalk and her biological brother, Bonnie was granting sanctuary without even thinking about consulting with her, Finn was hurrying back to his rooms to check on his pregnant partner. Marceline took herself away quietly to a guest suite to rest, noticed only by the other vampires. They knew better than to disturb their queen when she was so clearly distressed. For now it would be best to let her sleep.

…

 _"My Bonnie lies over the ocean.  
My Bonnie lies over the sea.  
My Bonnie lies over the ocean,  
So bring back my Bonnie to me."_

 _"Cass, what are you doing?"_

 _"I wanted her to hear my song."_

 _"The queen has company today, Cassie. Amrit asked for a private audience."_

 _"He's a nice boy. It's a shame he'll end up on the wrong side."_

 _"Er, ok then. I'll tell her you dropped by when she's awake, ok? Go to sleep, Cass. It's the middle of the day."_

 _Matilda was on guard, then. It was thoughtful of her not to disturb her queen over something so trivial as Cassie's odd song but Marceline had already been half awake when she'd heard the slight girl's voice floating through the closed door of her rooms. Amrit was stretched out beneath her still deeply asleep. Her arm was thrown across his hip and she took a moment to appreciate his shape in the pale light filtering past the heavy drapes before her eyes slid closed again._

 _Amrit had sought her favour over some Old Blood feud she'd been hesitant to get involved with. She'd let him present his case and when his words had failed to convince her he'd offered to win her over with sensuality. She still had no interest in taking his side in the argument but it was surprisingly fun to let the dark skinned vampire discover all her sensitive spots. He was talented and easy on the eyes, Marceline was looking forwards to maybe fucking him again some time unless she was too busy tangling with someone else by then. She let her hand drift across his hip and thigh again before closing her eyes and-_

 _Looked straight into solemn the face of the Cosmic Owl._

 _The Citadel and the memory dream dissolved around her as she surged forward with a snarl on her tongue, spurred by instant fury._

" _You! You feathery bastard, this is all because of you! Why am I see seven hundred years ago? Why didn't you warn me about my wife, about the attacks through the night? Who's putting you up to this?"_

 _"I have as much idea what this is all about as you do. Don't even ask." he told her, raising his wings defensively. That wasn't good enough for Marceline._

 _Next second her fist was tightening around starlight feathers and the Owl's eyes bugged out as she choked him, unable to contain the molten fury boiling through her. There was nothing to slam him up against which was a shame because it would have been so satisfying but he looked terrified anyway. So she could touch and threaten starlight in these fucked up dreams, that was an interesting piece of information to hold onto with the small part of her mind not consumed with rage. For a cosmic being the Owl wasn't very strong, he writhed feebly in her grasp but never came close to breaking free._

" _There must be someone controlling this! A higher power, Grod, whatever. Take me to them, I'll choke them too! Who's fucking with my family? You can screw me up all you want but you let them lay their hands on Bonnie and someone is going to fucking pay for that. Tell me why this is happening and who's behind it or we'll find out if you can die or not." she growled, face transformed with fury and eyes burning crimson._

" _Th-the cosmos! I ca-can't... I'm just the cosmic messenger!" the Owl gasped as she released her grip on his throat._

" _The cosmos? Are you shitting me? You seriously expect me to believe that the whole cosmos, the entire known universe in all it's unfathomable vastness, gives a single solitary crap whether my wife remembers me or not? I swear I'll do it, I'll suck your fucking soul right out through your beak-"_

" _It's because of you! You're a cosmic being, and s_ _o are your sons. Call it fate or the cosmos or Grod, it's all the same. You serve a purpose and this is all just a part of that purpose. Please, I don't know anything more! I have to go, there are more dreams to deliver."_

" _NO! Get back here you son of a-"_

She was already upright when her eyes flew open. Another Cosmic Owl dream? And a memory from when she'd still had a kingdom. But what could be the point in showing her that scene? She'd seen Stefan stake Amrit a couple of hundred years later after he'd sided with the rebels and Cassie had died when the Citadel fell, the night she'd escaped to exile. Their ashes had both blown away hundreds of years ago. But Cassie had been a Seer, she'd always been saying strange things that made no sense until later. She'd only been partly living in the present, her eyes had always had a far away look like she was watching something only she could see. So, was that some kind of message?

Marceline rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair out of her face with a scowl. It was evening, maybe not much past six, so most of the other vampires would still be asleep. The rest of the family might be waking after their sleepless night though, the kids at least might value her company. She couldn't face spending more time in the empty room she'd moved to. It felt like a prison cell. So Marceline dressed quickly and floated silently out of the door, ignoring the ache in her heart as she passed the staircase leading from the guest suites to the royal family's rooms. She was no longer welcome there, that much was clear to her.

She found herself drifting along the corridor towards Matilda and Zoe's room, reluctant but still unable to stay away when there was nothing better to do. It was a Sire thing, she was always going to come back to her lineage time and time again. Her mortal family was falling apart so it was natural she'd end up with her vampire companions. Marceline paused in the doorway, listening intently. There was no noise from within save for the thump of a human heartbeat and the answering quick throb of the baby's pulse, and Matilda's soft breathing as she slept. She sent a quick inquiry along the Sire bond she still shared with Zoe and a second later the blonde vampire opened the door.

"How is she?" Marcy asked quietly.

"Peaceful, which scares me more than anything. She's accepted that she'll die and she's just holding on to safely deliver the baby now. I'm scared, Marcy. I can't lose her. Has the queen managed to make any progress with her research, have you heard-"

"Nothing." Marceline cut her off tightly. "I've heard nothing. Bonnie isn't exactly sharing her soul with me these days. She spends all her time in war councils or locked in her lab with Stefan and when I ask him how researching the cure is going he just shakes his head and says she's bound him to secrecy. What could be so fucking secret about the cure? What are they up to down there?"

"Marcy?"

She hadn't meant to raise her voice but any questions about her wife were always going to rile her, Marceline thought. But now she'd woken Matilda and that was just one more burden of guilt to add to her heavy load. The redhead was peering up at her from the bed, swollen stomach cradled protectively in her arms and eyes as sunken and bruise-dark as they had been during her long centuries of vampirism.

"Hey, Tilda. How are you? I couldn't sleep, I wanted to come talk to you both. Do you remember Cassie?" Marcy asked instead, unwilling to bring up anything more recent for fear of upsetting the fragile girl.

"Cassie? Yeah, she was a vampire. I... the details are hazy now that my brain is fully human again. She was a Seer, right? Her Talent, she could See. But she was half crazy, she lost her Sire and the broken link made her unhinged. She died at the Citadel, pushed you out the window just before Isaac broke through and he didn't just stake her, her impaled her right through the chest. It was awful. I remember, she had a brother." Tilda murmured after a second. Marcy tried not to notice how raspy and painful her breathing sounded.

"Yeah, she had a brother. Matthew. Nobody seems to know where he disappeared to. Listen, do you remember the day she wanted to sing for me, but I had company? You were on guard." Marceline prompted, careful to keep her tone casual. It was hard to remind herself to speak at a normal volume around Matilda. This wasn't a deathbed, she wasn't going to die. Marceline reminded herself of that for the thousandth time that day but still her voice remained soft and low.

"Matthew. The Soul Seer. Little rabbit faced boy, he was one of Marco's lineage, right? Guess he'd be Old Blood by now, or at least one of the free Maatouk if he survived the Sire bond breaking without going crazy but never got any lineage of his own. Or he's dead, he's probably dead. I'll give him your regards in the next world." Matilda laughed and the sound of it made Marceline cringe. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard a more humourless, hollow laugh.

"You're not going to die, Tilda. Stop talking like that."

"Or you'll do what? Choke me again? I won't magically recover from cancer just because you don't want me to die. People don't just stay alive because you want them to, Marce."

It was spookily similar to what she'd told Finn when he found her on the roof two nights earlier. _Because you say so? I wish I could believe that was true._ Marceline shoved that memory from her mind. She couldn't afford to get distracted.

"Look, I need you to try to remember something. It was, Grod, about seven hundred years ago. Before things went to hell at the Citadel and before the rebellion. Cassie was singing, it was the middle of the day. I was in a private audience with Amrit and you were guarding my room. Cassie came by singing a song."

Matilda shook her head.

"Everything is so vague, it's like I had a dream about it a while ago. I know I spoke to Cassie but I don't remember what about." she replied regretfully.

It was hard for Marceline to keep her sigh of disappointment internal. Whatever else had happened it wasn't Matilda's fault that she couldn't remember more. But surely the stupid cosmos knew that and had taken it into account? Right? What was the point of her apparently being important to the grand scheme of the universe if it relied on things like perfect immortal memory that turned out to be less permanent than she'd thought? And still the eerie voice of Cassie the Seer from seven hundred years before haunted her with it's song.

 _My Bonnie lies over the ocean,  
_ _My Bonnie lies over the sea._

Because along with all her other lullabies and nursery rhymes Marceline's mother had sang 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean' had been one of her favourites. And Marceline couldn't stop remembering the next part of the song, the one that was less well known.

 _Last night as I lay on my pillow_  
 _Last night as I lay on my bed_  
 _Last night as I lay on my pillow_  
 _I dreamed that my Bonnie was dead._

Had Cassie seen something she was unable to explain without context, had she been sending her queen a message that would only now make sense? And did that mean Bonnie's life was in danger? Or had it simply been a call for Marceline to figure out that her Bonnie was literally over the sea waiting for her? More than anything she wished she had someone she could talk it through with but there was nobody. Stefan was too preoccupied trying to keep her wife comfortable with her constant agony, Zoe was caring for Tilda and had no time to think about anything else. Nia would simply look her straight in the eyes and tell her that everything died eventually and the thought of opening up to Johnson was laughable. Elliot might have an ear for her but the androgynous vampire wouldn't offer any advice, or if she did it would be in bad taste and only piss Marceline off even more. Billy and Olgar were in mourning, her father had his own worries settling grasslands refugees into the Nightosphere and keeping them away from the shadier parts of his territory. And she couldn't burden the children with her worries. They were adults now but even still, she felt a duty to maintain the pretense of knowing what she was doing. In short there was nothing else that Marceline could do apart from let the constant anxiety eat her alive while memories and thoughts swirled unrestrained through her head. Her heart felt like it was being ripped to pieces and maybe that was what being staked felt like, she wondered dully. She spent the rest of the night by Matilda's bedside, offering what comfort she could and at least giving Zoe the chance to go and feed. It felt like it was all Marceline could do these days and her internal fury at being so helpless simmered in the pit of her stomach all night long.

...

Daybreak revealed two more bodies, floating face down in a pond in the middle of a thicket of brittle gorse. Perhaps it had once been magical; it still smelled sharp and slightly herbal like the power that had sustained it had only recently been drained away. Now it was dead and dry, just like the two in the pond.

Kim Kil Whan had been swirling over the forest on his way to Breakfast Kingdom to follow up on some legal documents he was waiting for. Just because the whole of Ooo was under siege from vampires every night didn't mean business couldn't continue through the daylight hours. He spotted them from above and swept down to investigate, a leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They were a man and a woman, both humanoid, both magical. Both completely drained of blood from two small puncture wounds in their necks. Kim pulled them out of the pond and lay them on the bank gently, then slid out his phone and dialed a number from memory. It rang for a long time before anyone answered and he worried he'd woken her, she didn't keep the hours one would expect for a vampire and as far as he knew nobody had been up when he'd left that morning.

"Gran Gran? You need to get down to the woods, about a mile south of the big fork in the river, east of Breakfast Kingdom. There's something you need to see."

"You're out already? Kim, it's only just past seven thirty. It's too close to dawn."

"I had some business to take care of."

"...Yeah, ok. Give me a couple minutes and I'll be right there."

And she would, he knew how fast Gran Gran could fly when she wanted to. He hung up the line and waited, staring twitchily around himself into the depths of the forest every time he heard a noise. After about fifteen minutes a dark shape landed silently beside him. Gran Gran was hidden from the growing sunlight under a large purple parasol. She looked terrible, tense and exhausted, but she smiled wanly at him nonetheless. When her eyes drifted to the faces of the dead her smile disappeared though, replaced by a scowl of recognition.

"Ash. Oh. And Maja. You found them together then?"

He nodded, not wanting to say anything that might further anger her. Kim was close to both his grandmothers and knew when to hold his peace. Gran Gran's temper wasn't as quick to flare as Grandma's but she could still be touchy, especially when she was stressed. From the look on her face she was deeply shocked and increasingly furious.

"I suppose they were fucking living together then? Yeah, that makes sense. Fucking Ash, he was always a stupid dinkus. And now they're dead. Glob, Kim. I hadn't seen him in years but... even still." she murmured, eyes scanning the pale still faces.

Her grandson took her hand wordlessly and pulled her into a hug. He didn't pretend to understand what Gran Gran was talking about but she was obviously upset. She hugged him back for a long minute, sighing against his suited shoulder.

"It's not that I miss him. I never missed him, not even for a minute. But too many people have died and you're a smart enough boy to know that it's because of me. Me and my stupid war."

"Your war wasn't stupid, it was justified and necessary. Sometimes wars are. I know you think I'm just a kid, Gran Gran, but I've studied enough history to know plenty about what happened to the vampires. You did what you could to protect your people, and to protect humans to. And if you hadn't adopted Uncle Finn and Dad then I might not even exist. You did the best you could."

She squeezed him for a minute then backed away, smiling a little wryly at him.

"When did you get so big, Kim? Your Grandma was supposed to fix it so you could grow a little slower." she murmured. Kim just shrugged in reply. It had worked to a greater or lesser degree for his sisters, but he was glad that he'd reached adulthood after a couple of weeks.

"Come on, Business Dude. We should check out their house, see what clues we can find."

And with that she dragged him forward into the pond and they were suddenly flying upwards, into the sky towards-

A burnt out wreck that might have once been a house, in a previous existence. They hovered together in front of it.

"They set the fire underneath and smoked them out. I've seen them do it before. And who knows what magical items Maja was hoarding that they've gotten hold of now? This is bad, Kim."

Her face was tight and drawn, even paler than usual. Where her grey hand unconsciously gripped his arm it was hard enough to hurt. Kim considered; the contracts could wait. Family came first.

"Come on Gran Gran, there's nothing we can do here but bury them and go back to the palace." he said quietly, drifting back down towards the mirror-lake and tugging her with him.

They dug two deep graves into the side of the bank much more quickly than Kim had thought they would, but he supposed Gran Gran was taking out her anger and frustration on the soft clay around the pond. She lowered the bodies into each grave with a blank face and stood at the edge, staring down at them.

"Goodnight then, you psycho. For what it's worth I forgive you. Both of you. I hope you can forgive me too, hope you had some measure of happiness together."

She shoved the earth back over the graves and marked them with two large round stones from the edge of the pond. Then without a backwards glance Kim and Marceline took to the air and headed back to the palace together to break the news.


	14. Chapter 14

**Guys I'm sorry I took a mini hiatus from writing. I know I mentioned it already but I had some personal stuff going on. The good news? It's pretty much sorted now. At least, I'm a lot happier. I foresee upheaval in my future but fingers crossed I'll still end up in a good place eventually. *Cryptics cryptically***

 **Also. My. Anthology. Story. Is. PUBLISHED! It feels awesome to finally have some original works back in the game. And that's one of the reasons I haven't been writing fan fic in a while, but now I'm back! And I have most of the next chapter already written because it got too long and I split it into two. Remember how I promised no more OCs? Umm... well I couldn't really write it without any. Sorry. Have a werewolf. In consolation I'd like to add a quick shoutout to the amazingly awesome SalaciousSymphonies (previously the Trash Panda) who is back and rewriting her epic masterpiece The Ties That Bind Us. It's better than ever and definitely worth looking at! Go give her some love.**

 **Content Warning: not a lot of action in this chapter but we're building towards some pretty explosive events. Conspiracy theories, links to real life historical figures (yay PLOT!), implied het sex, mild torture references, foreshadowing.**

* * *

There was a wolf in the courtyard. Not attacking anyone, not doing anything but sitting on silky, pale haunches and waiting. Marceline landed in front of it with a scowl on her face. She knew wolves, they were one of the animals she'd spent a considerable amount of time shape shifted into and hanging out with. And this wolf was not acting like a normal wild wolf. It was fluffy and white with keen amber eyes and an intelligent face. It looked up and her and let out a little yip before stretching, yawning and exploding upwards into what looked unsettlingly like an ancient, pure human. If it hadn't been for the fine down of dark hair across the woman's knuckles and the lupine yellow of her eyes even in her human form she'd have blended into any pre-Mushroom War city for a thousand miles without a second glance. She was pale faced and had thick dark brunette hair that was hacked off severely at the shoulders; despite being a whole head shorter than Marceline she held her solid frame with a kind of easy self confidence that not many people maintained while facing the most powerful creature in existence.

"Werewolf." Marceline snarled. She'd smelled it a mile off anyway and there was no point pretending she didn't recognise what she was looking at. Kim hung behind her a little nervously, he'd never met a genuine werewolf and he was unsure if there was about to be a fight. Words were his weapon, he'd never so much as lifted a sword.

"Laika." the woman replied in a voice that flowed oddly, almost like she was singing her words. "I'm the pack matriarch. And you are the vampire queen. Good, this shouldn't take long. I need your help."

"Get out of my palace before I rip your face off." the vampire replied with her voice dropping into a demonic growl. The woman did nothing but tilt her chin defiantly and tighten her jaw a little, she didn't even flinch.

"Hear me out. They've taken our puppies. You think we want to fight you?"

"Yes. Yes, I think you're every bit as much demon as I am and bloodlust sings through your blood the same way it does for me. I'll bet you never feel so alive as when your teeth break the flesh of another creature, yeah? See, I spent time in the Nightosphere. I know how demons operate. And werewolves are just another type of demon. Fuck off now while you can still walk."

The werewolf darted forward unexpectedly and Marceline had the feverish skin of her throat between merciless undead hands in an instant. But the wolf did nothing more than just stand perfectly still in her grip, gazing beseechingly up into narrowed crimson eyes.

"See? You could crush the life out of me in a moment. And I'm not even trying to defend myself. Hear me out." she begged quietly. "You have kids, right? They said you had kids. If someone took them, if they were in danger... They're just babies. Puppies."

Unbidden the memory of the night Finn and Jake had been snatched by Joshua flashed behind her eyes. The empty cradle. The dead guards. The feeling of the world crashing and shattering around her because her babies were gone, might be dead or hurt or crying for her in terror-

"You have exactly sixty seconds. Start talking, wolf."

Marceline didn't release her grip on the werewolf's throat for that minute as the other woman spoke. Kim must have hurried away to find whoever he could in the palace because there was a noise like people hurrying to them from the main building but Marceline never took her eyes away from where they were scanning the direct amber gaze beneath her own for any sign of lies. The woman's pulse lapped lazily against the cold fist around her throat and the stink of wet dog was almost overbearing, even Jake at the heights of his teenage aversion to bathing had never reeked that badly. But still Marceline listened and ignored the footsteps approaching and the other voices shouting a confusing babble of questions.

"We were allies. A long time ago we were friends. After your war, I guess. And then the false queen wanted to be _certain_ of our loyalty. So she took my pups as a guarantee. We've lost too many pack members though, Estelle's idea of loyalty is going to cost us lives whatever we do. So I decided to try another way. The enemy of my enemy must be my friend. I escaped, I came here. And now the only way I'll go back is with the help I need to get my children. I already lost my packmate, we'll never have another litter. There are six babies, they're all I have left of him. All I want is my children to be safe and away from this war."

There was a sort of horrified rushing noise in Marceline's ears when the werewolf matriarch had finished speaking. Like she was flying into a headwind. Or, more like falling. Like falling out of the sky without any control over her trajectory, like the night Bella Noche had temporarily sucked her vampire magic away. _Like the night when her baby boys had been stolen away by a madman, like the feeling when she'd looked into Bonnie's eyes and seen no spark of recognition-_

"Mom, we have to help. We're heroes, me and Finn. And Phoebe."

It was Jake. He must have hurried to her side while the werewolf was talking, his paws were clenched into fists and he was avoiding Kim's scornful gaze. But the rebels had the pups, and that meant they must be somewhere heavily guarded.

"They have them in Goblin City, right?" Marceline guessed, pushing her revulsion and the memories that were flooding her to one side. Laika nodded heavily.

"Guarded by former members of our own pack. The ones loyal to Estelle now, or at least good enough at pretending to satisfy her ego. Please, I already lost my mate in the attack on your mountain village. As much as I wish I could avenge him, as hard as it is to beg his murderers for aid, you're the only option I have now. Please help me save my puppies, and then we'll leave. No more werewolves, at least none of my pack. There are a few who'd stay but with the pups back and no reason to continue guarding the vampires most of us would be gone in a heartbeat."

"I've got puppies of my own." Jake interrupted. "I'm not going to sit back and let anyone hurt kids."

"And I suppose telling you not to put yourself in danger and that I'd be crushed if anything happened to you wouldn't keep you here?" Marceline asked him with a sad smile.

"Mom, what if it was Viola or Jake Junior or Charlie? What if they had my little girls and they were scared and alone and didn't understand why it was happening? If I'd lost Lady, if the girls were all I had?"

She opened her mouth to reply only for a new voice to interrupt. It was an odd feeling for Marceline, she wasn't used to that voice being unwelcome.

"Absolutely not! I forbid it in every possible way! You'll stay in the palace, Jake. And you, werewolf woman, you'll get out of my home before I execute you myself! As for _you-_ "

Marceline whirled around and found herself face to face with Bonnie. The candy queen was flushed in her cheeks and clearly furious at being left out of any kind of decision making however accidentally it had happened. She'd obviously sprinted from wherever she'd been, probably her laboratory, and her breath came hard and distractingly sweet right into the vampire's face. There was barely a hand's width between their lips, the crazy idea that it would be far too easy to just lean forward and kiss her wouldn't leave Marceline's thoughts. It took every last fibre of resistance that she had to force herself a step backwards, away from the intoxicating scent of her wife's sweet breath.

"They're adults, Bon. We don't get to tell them what to-"

"You'll call me Your Highness or you won't address me at all! You're nothing to me, do you understand? I won't tolerate insolence like this!" Bonnie screamed. That time Marceline took a step back in shock and took a moment to look at her estranged wife more closely. There were rings under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days, her hair was bound in a sloppy ponytail and held back from her face with what looked like a circle of wire she'd used a temporary hairband and her fingers were raw and scabbed like she'd been digging her nails into her hands from stress so much she'd broken the skin. Rose coloured eyes skittered all around, filled with a nervous energy that spoke of too little sleep and too much stress. Jake, ever sensitive to others' moods, stepped forward between them and directed his mother's gaze to himself instead.

"Come on, Mama. Come back inside and rest. We can talk about this later but you need to get some breakfast and a nap, you're exhausted." he said kindly, taking Bonnie's arm and leading her away. She must be almost at her limit, Marceline thought, because she let him tug her away with only minimum complaint.

"I don't need to nap, I'm _fine._ You Dogs and your obsession with sleeping and eating, I keep telling you I'll rest when I've finished my project..."

Her voice was lost among the general background noise of the palace mid-morning and the werewolf who'd held her tongue so far sidled up to Marceline's elbow.

"Your scent is full of pain." she observed quietly.

"You better shut the fuck up or your scent will be full of being dead." Marceline growled back. She was unable to keep the obvious agony from her voice, though.

"That was your mate."

"Yeah. I mean, no, not... Former mate. Not anymore."

"And yet when we take a mate we always think it will be for the rest of our lives." the werewolf observed quietly. Her words carried a pain that mirrored Marceline's own and the vampire was reminded that the werewolf had said she'd lost her packmate. Had her silver-edged axe widowed the woman standing next to her? Finn's axe, Jake's sword? There was no way to know but the weight of guilt settled across her silent heart all the same. Suddenly Marceline didn't know what to say, so she simply drifted off towards the palace and motioned for her new werewolf acquaintance to follow.

...

"Come on babydoll, won't you eat? You gotta eat to keep your strength up."

She just sighed and pushed away from the herdling he held up to her.

"I want wildblood. I want the chase and the fight, I don't like that farmed blood crap."

"Baby, come on, you know you're too weak to hunt right now. You need to rest and recover."

Garrett didn't roll his eyes because he respected his girl too much to let his frustrations with her whining show. But it wasn't like Estelle was in any shape to hunt, she was so weak she could barely fly and leaving their rooms in the daylight was out of the question. If she didn't eat soon she'd go feral from starvation and then they'd have to deal with detoxing her of the blood of whichever vamp was unlucky enough to cross her path when that happened. They didn't have enough spare time for the queen to go tripping balls for a week or more, they had a continent to conquer. It didn't help that it was the middle of the day and Garrett wanted to sleep, didn't help that Estelle hadn't rested for more than an hour at a time since the last attack. They'd warned him that losing his Zeta Psis would hurt but it had been more like a sort of bee sting in the back of his brain, easily ignored if he shoved it away from himself to focus on the finer details of their alliance with the fire nation. If he'd known where he was pushing the pain, if he'd known it was his babydoll that was suffering from the broken mental links- Garrett shook his head to try ease some of the hot guilt and regret flooding his thoughts. He needed to get some food into Estelle before he could try to help her with the damage in her head.

"I want to taste _her_." Estelle whined, throwing her arms around his neck and pouting up at him. "Was she sweet? Did she scream? Tell me again."

"She got away, babe. I'm sorry. Yeah, she was sweet and she screamed real nice. And I'll get her for you again and you can taste her for yourself, soon. I promise."

"But you can still feel her, can't you? In your head? I want her to die, I don't want to share your brain with another woman, I don't like it."

"She's… babe, we can do _tons_ of stuff with the junk I pulled out of her head. Do you know how much fear there is in her? You're gonna had so much fun with her."

"But I want it _now._ I hurt, my brain hurts. I need wildblood to make me better."

Estelle wasn't going to forgive him for letting the pink candy woman escape any time soon, or for establishing a mental link to her however accidentally. Her pout was ridiculously cute though and he couldn't stop himself from dropping the herdling by the scruff of its fat neck and letting his lips find hers. Centuries later and he was still so in love with her, his beauty queen. He'd called her his princess and she'd laughed and told him she wanted to be the queen, not just a dumb princess. And then one night she bit him and said they'd be together forever that way, then they hunted and killed the one who'd bitten her and rode out the mental agony from the broken link together. After that it was his frat brothers, and they were a real family after all. King, queen and adoring subjects. But that hadn't been enough for Estelle. Not when she saw the grey woman with the real crown. The crown that now sat lopsided on top of the light brown waves of Estelle's beautiful hair. Garrett broke the kiss and smiled down at her, lost in her eyes like he had been that night they'd first kissed at the drive-in cinema in the back of his father's car.

"You're so beautiful." he whispered to her.

"But I was to be pretty." she sulked.

"Beautiful is better than pretty, baby."

"No, I want to be _pretty_. Double pretty. Pretty Pretty like a real queen."

And then he remembered that Estelle was making less and less sense these days, was broken in her mind and beyond even his Talent's power to fix. Garrett kept the snarl from showing on his chiseled features but he felt it in his mind nevertheless. That royal ditz and her stupid pink wife were going to suffer and die for what they'd done to his Estelle. Nobody hurt his girl, not unless she wanted them to and ordered it. He'd made her a queen like she wanted, he'd kept her safe this time around because he'd seen how vulnerable she was in their first war and he wasn't taking the chance of letting Marceline slip away from them again because Estelle and her friends were too busy playing arsonist. No, this time he'd lead the charge himself and his loyal Zeta Psis would be the foot soldiers. He'd kill the old queen with his own hands and then when he was king they'd finally, finally have the wedding she'd promised him all those centuries ago. The memory of that ancient promise pulsed through his thoughts as though driven by a heartbeat he no longer possessed.

 _"And once I graduate my Papa's gonna get me a job on uncle Bobby's campaign staff, get me a ringside seat for the election. Next stop, the Senate. Who knows? I could be king of the world."_

 _"And I'll be your queen?"_

 _"Of course, babydoll. You and me sittin' in the Oval Office, you'll be my First Lady. But you gotta marry me first, y'know? They don't let no fornicators run for president."_

 _"You're asking me to be your wife?"_

 _"Asking you to be my queen. What do you say, you wanna rule the world with me?"_

 _"Mrs Estelle Kennedy. I like it."_

Someone had taken uncle John out of the picture before they'd even managed to Turn him and it had been difficult to convince uncle Bobby to join them. In the end Garrett had had to shoot him and bite him in the hospital before using Sire control to make the older man lie still as death through the funeral, and after that they'd ended up having to dispose of him because he'd turned out to be worse than useless anyway. Kennedies were as stubborn as they were prolific and there were plenty more who made better vampires than uncle Bobby. Someone was working against them though; seemed like every time he had a plan for another family member they wound up dead in tragic circumstances before he had a chance to bite them. Garrett had only had a few decades to Turn as many political figures as possible before the bombs had fallen and he'd lost so many of his lineage. That was when Estelle had first started to lose her mind and here they were a thousand years later and she was sicker than ever and _still_ not a queen. Garrett knew it was irrational but he couldn't shake the feeling that Marceline had something to do with it, that her sudden appearance and meteoric rise to power had been planned. And now he was finally going to end her once and for all, he had a plan. Garrett hadn't grown up during the age of espionage for nothing, if sending in the spies had worked against the commies he saw no reason it wouldn't work now too.

"Eat." Garrett urged softly, again holding up the herdling that whimpered and stared at them with dull eyes. Estele sighed and finally sunk her fangs into its soft flesh, draining it until nothing but a dry carcass remained. Garrett spared her his softest, most private smile. "Feel better?"

"Much." she replied. And then her answering smile grew impish beneath the fresh blood that gleamed on her lips and she leaned back into his embrace to trail her finger tips down the bite scar low on his shoulder, the mirror of her own. Garrett shuddered at the contact and arched against her touch.

"Estelle..." he gasped quietly, half questioning and half begging.

"I think I could sleep now. But I need someone to tuck me in, make sure I'm relaxed before bed." she purred before her lips met the cool skin of his throat. Tomorrow, later, another day, he'd plot and plan for how to destroy the vampire queen one and for all, and crown his beautiful Estelle for real this time. But right now she needed him to relax her and he'd never been able to say no to her.

...

Maybe Jake had been too optimistic, thinking he could sneak out himself, both of his siblings, Phoebe's stupid cat boyfriend thing and Laika the werewolf all in one go without getting caught. Because the five of them slipped out of one of the many secret passages into the candy palace and came face to face with a long, rusty orange body ending in a suit jacket and a disapproving frown.

"Grandma said nobody was going to leave." Kim Kil Whan announced, crossing his arms across his chest.

"And I say I'm not standing by idly while innocent children are held hostage by the rebels. I'm a hero. I save people." Jake replied evenly. He crossed his arms across his chest and set his jaw defiantly in the same gesture of stern authority he'd seen his Mama use so many times. Finn and Phoebe looked between the two in shock, who was more stubborn between Jake and his hotheaded son?

Kim snorted derisively and scowled.

"You're not a hero, Dad! You're a lazy bum who has no reason to even exist! Your whole life is pointless! You're the crown prince and heir to a pair of centuries old immortals, what's the point? And you're a stay-home father because Mom wanted you to feel like you had any kind of relevancy to the childhood of your children, she doesn't need you there any more than Grandma and Gran Gran need an heir. 'Hero' is a polite way of saying you hang around causing trouble because you're bored and have no direction in your life. And now you have TV lounging around like a useless sack of crap too, I'm so glad I took after Mom instead!"

"Well at least I'm not a judgmental snob." Jake replied quietly. Finn could hear the restrained hurt in his brother's voice though and stepped between them with his hands raised.

"Woah woah, time out, dudes. Kim, you be nice to your Dad, he loves you and he's got a ton of important stuff to do, it's just different to your stuff. Jake... man, you love your son too. Let's all just not fight, yeah? There's enough going on without us turning on ourselves. Let's just follow the plan and save some puppies." he soothed.

"Oh great, now Loser the Younger is getting in on it too. Listen, Uncle Finn. Sooner or later you're gonna have to grow up, this whole Peter Pan act you have is getting old. It's embarrassing. I've only been around a fraction of the time you have and look at what I've achieved. And you know why that is? Because I respect authority. Your mother, my grandmother, the queen of this whole kingdom and single most politically powerful being in Ooo, said we can't afford the distraction of running around chasing wayward puppies. And here you all are, all three of you, sneaking out against her direct orders. You too, Aunt Phoebe! I thought you were better than this!"

"I'd have done the same for you if you'd been in danger as a pup." Phoebe replied with a scowl. She flared brighter and tried hard not to notice the way Yrran swayed subtly closer to her warmth, he'd insisted on coming along since she'd taken the time to slip her undead bodyguard and he had nothing to do until his commander was recovered. Not that Elliot had been too difficult to avoid, she'd been huddled down with the other Old Bloods talking in whispers since the night of Eagle Mask's funeral and Phoebe had no idea what was up with them. Something, for sure, but Marceline had been too busy to check the vampire bodyguards were actually doing their jobs and in all the confusion nobody had noticed the three royal children sliding away with their new werewolf acquaintance. Nobody but Yrran, and apparently Kim.

"I'm not letting you go." Kim announced. He looked between all of them, scowling even harder than ever.

"And you'll stop us... how? Exactly?" Phoebe asked with her own snort of derision.

As mature as Kim was he simply didn't have the experience they did. He hadn't even opened his mouth before Finn and Jake bounded off to one side of him, Phoebe shot to the other and cleared his midsection in a single leap then Laika and Yrran followed at a charge. Kim shut his mouth with an angry huff and swirled to follow.

"You don't even have a plan!" he yelled from the air above.

"Then how about you give us some aerial support? Scout the terrain, you can be part of our hero squad!" Jake hollered back. The grin on his face was enough to tell his brother and sister that he had every intention of turning the whole adventure into a bonding experience and Finn couldn't help but answer with his own smile. Last night Victoria had grabbed his hand and placed it against her belly, he could have sworn he felt a sort of fluttering movement. He was gonna raise his kid to be a hero too, he understood why Jake wanted Kim to approve of him. Finn just hoped that Jake wouldn't have reason to regret bringing along his uptight eldest son with them, that their parents and especially Mama wouldn't explode with fury when they found out about the mission. But there were pups in danger, a fair maiden to help even if she was a werewolf and general heroing to get on with. Despite all of the danger and grief, despite it war and the death and all the uncertainty in their future he did nothing to restrain the savage grin that spread across his face at the thought of _finally_ getting into the middle of the action. Finn was back in his element at last.


	15. Chapter 15

**As ever I'd like to take the time to thank my amaaaaazing fans and readers, you guys are the best! I'm getting back into my swing with writing and I'm trying to keep on top of my update schedule. As an apology for how late this update is here's a double length chapter for you.**

 **And this is where I plug! Two stories you should definitely check out, We Own The Night by SalaciousSymphonies and Rehearsal by CountingWithTurkeys. They'e both on my favourites page, go read them! SalaciousSymphonies is just starting out with a brilliant fantasy AU based on a tabletop RPG, I had a quick look through the plot outline and it's gonna be one hell of a ride. Rehearsal, I have no idea how that's gonna turn out but what I can tell you is that it's gonna blow your mindhole. Seriously, those are two amazing stories from two amazing authors and I can't tell you how much I think you should go read their stuff!**

 **Content Warning: minor OCs, gore, violence, character death, feels, reveals, plot and shocks. This is a big one.**

* * *

They stopped at what appeared to be a random place in the middle of the grasslands. Kim landed and was just opening his mouth to loudly complain that they were still miles from Goblin City when an engine roar in the distance hit his ears. He turned and after a tense few seconds scanning the horizon two moving objects came into view. It took a moment for him to place them, they weren't a common sight in Ooo. But after a moment he felt his mouth drop open in surprise and the word he was searching for solidified in his brain. __Cars__.

"YO PHOEBE!" an obnoxious voice called over the din.

"HEY LSP!"

The lead car, bulbous and bright purple, screeched to a halt in front of the group and Kim stared at the lumpy woman behind the wheel. She was appraising him with a cool look and then glanced at Jake who shrugged.

"Get in then losers. Like, I'm not sitting around all day." she finally drawled. The second car pulled up too and Kim's eyes narrowed at the driver. He'd never met her before but he knew who she was, nobody but Breakfast Princess was quite so blatant about trying to steal his Grandma's style. And to his absolute disgust she was smiling at his uncle Finn and fluttering her eyelashes.

"Promise you'll take good care of her for me, Finn?"

"Of course, BP. Thank you so much for lending me your car again. Official hero business, y'know?" he replied with a ladykiller smile and bow. She giggled when he kissed her hand and Kim had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He hadn't wanted to come along anyway and now he was stuck watching his uncle being a flirtatious wad?

"Whatever, losers. Come on! It's, like, past midday already and we've still gotta drive all the way there!" LSP interrupted loudly. Finn jumped behind the wheel of the car Breakfast Princess had brought and Jake slid onto the seat next to him. Phoebe was already riding shotgun with her lumpy friend and Yrran had cautiously lowered himself onto the back seat where he found himself being examined by a tiny robot with a pixelated smile on its screen.

"Oh, he his handsome!" the little robot giggled. "I see why you like him, Phoebe!"

"We're just friends, BMO. Jeez." she replied awkwardly.

Yrran wondered what that little extra burst of warmth that radiated from her meant when she said those words, could flame elementals blush? He had no time to think more about it though because the next second a long orange coil was dropping out of the air and taking up all the extra space in the back of the car. Kim settled with his usual frown and straightened his suit jacket primly.

"I'm not riding with the other two." he announced. "Uncle Finn flies like a crazy person, can you imagine how badly he must drive? This whole thing is __stupid__ and dangerous, when Grandma finds out she'll-"

LSP put her foot down and Kim's complaints were lost to the blast of wind from their acceleration as he was thrown back against his seat. Yrran felt his stomach lurch at the sudden motion and he had to fight the urge to sink his claws into the plush purple seat in front and yowl in fear. He was doing this for the princess, he reminded himself. Because she was beautiful and in his limited knowledge of princesses she may very well be delicate and fragile and need protecting. Her brothers weren't up to much being a frail human and a fat Dog, and Lady Evil was busy right now. So it fell to him to protect her only daughter, because he was a proud demon of the Nightosphere and he respected authority even if she'd threatened to turn his insides into a musical instrument. And that was the _only_ reason, for sure.

In the second car Jake and Finn were deep enough in conversation that they barely noticed the landscape flashing past them. Laika had curled into her wolf form on the back seat and if she was paying them any attention she didn't show it.

"Dude, he'll come around." Finn was saying comfortingly.

"Will he? I love Kim, you know I do. Bro, he's just like Mama though. Stubborn. Strong willed. And he thinks he knows everything same as she does except she's had eight hundred years to literally know everything and Kim's barely had six months. I'm just scared he's gonna get himself in over his head." Jake replied with a sigh.

"Nah, man, he's cool. We'll look after him. Sooner or later he's gotta learn that he can make mistakes, that however mature he thinks he is there's still stuff he doesn't know. Trust me, I learned it too. The hard way." Finn held up his robotic arm and shot his brother a sad smile from the corner of his mouth. Jake just sighed again and shrugged.

It felt like it took hours longer than it should have to reach the outskirts of the formerly peaceful state of Goblin City. Every village that the road ran through was barricaded, surrounded by salt circles and festooned in thick braids of garlic. The guards on each gate stared at their passing vehicles in suspicion and after the first few attempts to pass through a closed town were met with drawn weapons they gave up on negotiation and drove off-road the long way around each settlement. As a result it was late in the afternoon before the spires of the fortified town drew into view on the horizon. It made Finn nervous, they only had a few hours of daylight left before the vampires would begin to wake and he wanted to be in and out before then. They drove as close to the walls as they dared before cutting the ignition. By the time the boys had parked, woken their werewolf guide and joined the rest of the group there was already a heated and whispered conversation going on.

"But I'm stealthier!" Kim was hissing.

"Whatever, longboy. I'm smaller than you and I can use my lumpin' charms if any wolf dudes catch me. Like, I'm totally irresistible." LSP replied with a roll of her eyes. "Besides I already got BMO's outfit ready."

"BMO is the world's greatest ninja!" the little robot sang happily to nobody in particular. Finn grinned to himself, LSP was as good as her word and the little MO was wriggling into what looked like a re-purposed black sock with holes cut for his arms and screen.

"What's the plan?" Finn asked quietly.

"I'm like, gonna fly overhead and parachute BMO to scout out a safe way in and open a gate for us." LSP informed him. She obviously had no trouble interpreting the expression of mingled surprise and admiration on his face because she added; "You didn't think Phoebe just asked me along for fun, did you? Urgh. BMO doesn't have a heartbeat so he won't wake the vamps, you dingus. And lumpy folk have a sorta... I dunno, like, we just __get__ wolves, you know? Whatever, it's too hard to explain to a moron like you, Finn. Like, I know what they're saying to me and stuff. Just not in mouth words."

Kim watched her rise into the air with BMO on her shoulder and the same frown of disapproval he'd worn all day firmly in place.

"Didn't think we'd bring along any dead weight on a rescue mission, did you?" Jake asked him quietly while they waited. "LSP's not the sorta ally you'd expect but she's right, nobody knows wolves like lumpy space folk. Everyone here has a purpose, son. Heroes can plan too."

"But they're not even gonna be wolves, are they? They're just pups and it's not full moon. So... babies. We're looking at rescuing a room full of noisy, dumb almost-human __babies__." Kim snorted.

A weird noise broke the tension before Jake could reply and it took him a moment to realise it was the closest approximation of a growl Laika could produce with her human throat. Kim might be as sensible as Bonnie, as sharp eyed in business transactions as her, but he'd clearly yet to master her skills of diplomacy.

" _Those are my children you are insulting, halfbreed._ " the werewolf informed him in an icy tone full of barely controlled violence. "They are not 'almost-human'. They are __wolves__ , perfect and beautiful wolf pups as yet untouched by our curse. Only those bitten as adults become mindless beasts, the wolfborn are our natural form, Until they reach breeding age they'll stay whole. The absence of moonlight only twists the adults of our pack into this grotesque form. We were wolves a long time ago before we were cursed to walk as humans, only the full moon can give us our true forms back. As alpha of the pack I can assume a wolfshape at will, although I can never free my mind from this awful human awareness. Only the moonlight can do that. And my beautiful pups have never known this terrible existence. They are innocent in every possible way and-"

"Psst! BMO opened a window!"

They looked up and Laika broke off from her impassioned rant. The little robot was indeed waving at them from a window twenty feet off the ground.

"Any vamps around?" Jake called up as quietly as he dared.

"There is nobody! No wolf people, no vampires! They are all asleep in the basements, they do not like the wolf smell!" BMO called back.

Jake lost no time in stretching himself into a ladder up to the window and tried his hardest not to wince as the group climbed up him. It was especially difficult when Yrran followed Phoebe, the cat demon was using his whip-like tail for balance and Jake felt the prickle of razor sharp claws through his fur. It cost him a lot of self control not to shudder at the sensation of cat claws and the stink of a cat all over him and just generally _cats,_ eww.

...

It shouldn't have been so easy to find the room the pups were being kept in. Something about it felt off to Jake and he gazed around them twitchily as they snuck through the deserted fort. It was suspicious, but what could they do? Go wake the vamps and the other werewolves and ask why they weren't being more careful with their hostages? He almost walked into his brother's back when Finn stopped dead unexpectedly at a window and all thought of werewolves fled from his brain.

"Dude-"

"What are those?"

They all stopped at the strained question, Phoebe whipping around to glare at him for his unnecessary distraction and Laika with sympathy in the gold of her eyes when she saw where he was staring.

"Come away, human." the werewolf said instead of replying to his question. But Finn shrugged off the gentle hand on his arm and instead continued to stare out of the window into the small courtyard below.

"Are they werewolves?" he asked, although he knew the answer somewhere deep inside himself before she replied.

"No. Those are herdlings."

"Herdlings." Finn repeated softly. "Like… cattle? But for vampires. They're humans, aren't they?"

They were naked, filthy, shambling around aimlessly and grunting quietly with no discernible language to their noises. Men, women, and children, all dull eyed and slack jawed, huge and soft looking with no musculature to speak of. Just big lumps of blood filled flesh with faces and useless stubby limbs. If he squinted Finn could make out that on their dusky skin there were dozens of half healed puncture wounds. Most of the wounds were clustered around the neck and shoulders of their bulbous frames but some stood out as blotchy bruises against the paler areas of their bodies. At a distance the bruise patterns looked like a patchwork design of dirty flowers; clumsy and raw and obviously lacking the precise care of the deep love-markings he'd accidentally caught sight of one or twice of on his Mama's shoulders when he'd burst into his parents' bedroom without knocking. The vampires that had drank from the human cattle below him hadn't cared if they hurt them, over and over again until their flesh was nothing but half healed wounds. From the few lying too still and half trampled into the mud beneath their companions' feet he figured their undead masters probably didn't care if a few died from the process every now and then.

"They're just standing around, why aren't they trying to escape?" Finn asked. His voice was hoarse and his siblings knew he was dangerously close to tears of frustration.

"They can't. They're enthralled." Laika replied. Her face plainly said that she wished she could spare him the terrible details but something in Finn's expression demanded an explanation and she knew it would hurt more when he discovered the truth if she denied him it now. "They are bred for this purpose, bitten first as babies and kept deliberately ignorant and docile their whole lives. They have no language, no concept of freedom. This is what the vampires eat when they can't get wildblood. This… is what they force our people to eat. We no longer hunt as we should. They make us eat the dead flesh of the herdlings that are too weak, too old or just drained too hard and die from the blood loss. Please, human. My babies."

Finn turned reluctantly from the window but his hands were clenched, twitching in a way that Phoebe at least recognised meant he was itching to unsling the replica axe from his back and vent his rage on an undead enemy. Probably it was good the vampires were all asleep, probably Finn would have ended up so coated in their ashes he'd get called the White Prince. There was no way he was going to forget what he'd seen though, that was for sure.

A yelping further up the corridor had Laika springing forward without warning and she threw open a door, not caring about the noise as it clattered against the wall.

Nobody was guarding them, the pups were alone in a bare stone room. Their mother was already on her knees with tears of relief spilling down her cheeks as they pranced and jumped round her. There were six of them, grey and fluffy and yapping excitedly, tails wagging so hard their whole rear ends vibrated. Laika picked up each one and sniffed them over thoroughly while they whined and lapped at her tears.

"I remember when you and your brother were that small." Jake whispered to Kim. "Your favourite bedtime story was how we got Hambo the Bear back for Gran Gran. You used to play by the big tree and take turns to be the shadow demon, do you remember?"

If Kim remembered he chose not to reply. Instead he looked away with a frown and crossed his arms. It didn't stop Laika from bundling a wiggling pup into his hands though.

"Her name is Sabina. Guard her with you life, orange one."

Everyone was given a puppy to carry and they wasted no time in heading to the door. Yrran especially looked like he'd been handed a bag of something disgusting but he held onto his charge with grim determination, even when the mottled grey pup wriggled up to lick excited at his mouth. BMO lead the way, back-flipping and rolling down the corridor, assaulting imaginary enemies with his sweet ninja punches. They got to the window and he leaped up onto the ledge, grabbed the handle and pulled-

The window didn't budge. BMO's grip slid and he only escaped cracking his screen against the solid stone floor by Jake's quick thinking. The Dog managed to hang onto the pup he was cradling with both paws, balance on one hind leg and whip his other out into a wide pillow to catch the falling robot. BMO fell with a cry but landed safe.

"The window will not open!" he informed them. "It is locked!"

"Maybe it... automatically locks when you close it?" Finn hazarded. His puppy was particularly wiggly and was halfway around his neck, chewing on his golden braid with a happy growl.

Jake let BMO down from his paw approached the window. He sniffed cautiously but there was no trace of anyone but their party in the scent that clung to the cold stone. Yrran joined him, staring around with his weird, wide eyes. He shook his head.

"Nobody here but us. No scent. Nothing I can pick up over general wet dog nast, anyway. I guess this window locks automatically." he confirmed. Jake ignored the pointed barb at his scent, if Yrran hadn't wanted to be around doggy smells he shouldn't have offered to come on a werewolf rescue mission.

"I could try to melt the lock." Phoebe offered.

"No time. And that's gonna be loud, isn't it? We're gonna have to sneak out." Finn replied heavily. His sister sighed and shrugged, she didn't like it any more than either of her brothers but what could she do? Her stomach was churning with anxiety that set her mind racing but her frantic brain failed to throw out a plan.

"I'd try key hands but this goblin made stuff is redonk, no way I can pick those locks. We're gonna have to go out the main door somehow. And quickly." Jake added. He cast a long stare at the low-hanging sun but didn't linger at the window, they were running out of time.

Laika had already set off down the corridor to a flight of stone steps leading down into the courtyard and since she knew the city better than any of them they followed obediently. But stepping out into the slanting shadows of the early evening with puppies and a herd of enthralled humans turned out to be the least of their problems.

 _"_ _YOU!_ _ _You fucking traitor! I'll kill you!"__

Out of nowhere a brown haired man with the same round features as Laika was launching himself at them from the shadows. He'd been crouched below the window, easy to miss from above. Suddenly he was wrestling a furious transformed wolf and his nails were lengthening into claws of his own, lips pulled back of unnaturally sharp teeth and eyes glowing gold. His fist connected with the white wolf's flank and she staggered back with a yelp before re-transforming and throwing herself at him. Finn was trying to unsling his axe and hold onto his puppy, the herdlings were keening in fear and stampeding around at one end of the courtyard and BMO was unhelpfully chanting "Fight! Fight! Wolf fight!" and punching the air.

He was trying to transform, Kim realised with a jolt. But only the alpha could assume wolf shape outside of the full moon, Laika had said so. Was the younger man an alpha of some kind? Before he could move to help the werewolf matriarch had returned to human form and was crouched protectively in front of the heroes and puppies.

"I refused to hurt you, Pasha. You're doing what you think you need to protect the pack and I respect you for that. But you can't transform, you're no true alpha. The pack aren't loyal to you and you know it. Let me take the little ones away from this, they're just children-"

"They're my brothers and sisters! I won't let you take them who knows where and get them used as political pawns again!" the young werewolf snarled. When he looked between their faced Kim wondered why he hadn't realised it immediately. This young man, Pasha, must be Laika's son from an older litter.

"Pasha-"

He ignored her and instead of replying threw his head back and let out a long, loud wail that left the hairs standing up across the back of everyone's necks. A howl. He was calling the rest of the pack.

"Kim! Watch the pups!" Jake cried as he shoved the puppy he'd been holding into his son's arms and drew his demon blood sword. Phoebe and Yrran had already deposited their own pups inside one of his long orange coils and he couldn't do more than gulp and curl more tightly around the youngsters as werewolves and newly woken vampires began to pour from every entrance and window.

LSP was rushing them from above and Kim watched in astonishment as she __bit__ a wild-eyed vampire who promptly screamed and fell to the ground, skin erupting in lumps. The unfortunate man just lay there rolling his eyes and sighing sarcastically. Kim was sure he heard the vampire mutter; "Laaaaame." although he couldn't be certain over the battle noise. The pups were cowering against him and whimpering and he'd never felt more terrified and out of his depth in his short life. He was backed against the stone of the courtyard wall, weaponless and suddenly incredibly aware of how vulnerable and inexperienced he was.

To his right Uncle Finn was wrestling a golden eyes werewolf, to his left Aunt Phoebe flared with orange fire and incinerated a vampire that was hurtling towards her Grimmalk. The cat demon twisted away from the fireball and with perfect precision and grace stroked his paw down the chest of another approaching vampire. For one second Kim didn't understand what had happened until the bloodsucker fell back with a look of pure horror on her face, staring down at the gaping wound on her chest. Bone and flesh was expertly severed with the meticulous care of an artisan assassin and there was a vertical incision right down the centre of the cold, still heart that was exposed to the air. The woman crumbled to ash with a death groan a moment later and the Griammalk flashed a savage grin before whirling away and hooking his claws under the base of a werewolf's skull. His paw curved, muscles contracted, and the head came away from its neck without any apparent effort. Kim averted his eyes and pressed his lips tightly against the abrupt wave of nausea in his throat.

"KIM!"

He looked up in time to see his father's paw stretch magically across the courtyard to snatch an approaching vampire out of the air and crush their head against the wall. Jake had just saved his life, Kim noted distantly through the numbing horror. A vampire had been a second from ripping his throat open and Jake has crushed the threat like nothing more than a fly to protect his son.

"LSP, get those pups out to the cars!" Finn commanded as he swung his axe into another wolf's snarling face. She dropped the newly lumpy body she'd been savaging and swooped back to where the orange half-Rainicorn cowered in the corner with the puppies.

"Come on, quick, before the sun sets! They can't follow us up yet!"

Kim scrabbled four puppies into his shaking arms and with his heart thumping crazily and fear turning his stomach to water he took off after the lumpy woman who'd snatched up the remaining puppies. A couple of vampires went to follow only to fall back with a hiss as the dying rays of direct light hit their skin. Phoebe shot covering fireballs up at them and caught one as he fell back into the shadows. The burning man's bubbling screams filled Kim's ears as he raced across the sky and down to their waiting cars.

"BMO, stay with the kids. You too, orange dude." LSP ordered as they bundled the whimpering puppies onto the back seat.

He hadn't been planning to argue. Kim was more than happy to stay away from the fighting. But a voice he'd been hearing since before he was born cried out in sudden agony on the other side of the city wall and some deeply hidden heroic impulse that he hadn't even known he possessed reared up inside and took his body outside of his conscious control. He was streaking back over the city walls with a scream of rage before he even knew he'd moved.

Jake was lying gasping for breath in a growing pool of blood with a deep gash in his side. Finn was pulling his axe out of a pile of ashes that must have been his brother's attacker. Phoebe, Laika, and Yrran were trapped at the other end of the courtyard by the still milling and terrified herdlings as well as a fresh wave of vampires. And another vampire was bearing down on Jake, drawn irresistibly to the scent of rich blood.

Kim Kil Whan had always possessed a talent unique amongst his litter. He could calculate the most likely outcome of any given situation in a fraction of a millisecond and make a sound decision based upon it. That had been his secret weapon in countless negotiations; it was impossible for a business rival to surprise him or rush him into a bad decision. And in that fraction of a millisecond Kim's brain whirred and came to a conclusion.

His father was injured. Without immediate rescue he would die. Uncle Finn was a seasoned hero but there were too many new vampires for him to fight alone. Even as he whirled and swung his axe at them it was obvious he was seconds away from being overwhelmed too. Kim remembered the childhood days he'd spent playing by the big tree in his parents' garden, re-enacting the heroic recovery of Hambo the Bear by his father, aunt, and uncle and the subsequent rescue of the royal children by the demon Kee-Oth. He'd always had a head for remembering details. The very same demon blood sword that had summoned the Shadow Master that day lay just outside of his injured father's reach, forgotten by Finn and half lost in the churned gore and mud of the courtyard. Kim made a decision.

He lowered his head and fell like a bullet from the sky. He didn't even hear LSP scream out for his aunt and rush to her side, didn't see the lumpy woman gather the princess, wolf, and cat demon into her arms as the flame elemental hurriedly restored her heat shield. He didn't see a werewolf leap from the crowd and sink their fangs into the hairless leg of the Grimmalk, rip him from LSP's hold and back down into the seething mass of vampires and werewolves while Phoebe screamed and reached out for him. Kim didn't see the vampire he was aiming for. But he felt the impact when his stubby little horn thundered into the chest of the closest attacker and crushed their ribs, pierced their heart and filled hisnostrils with fresh ash as the body disintegrated. He flung an arm out wildly and managed to grab the demon sword with the memory of his father's voice ringing in his ears

 _ _"__ _ _O__ _ _ne day, Kim,__ _ _when you're older,__ _ _this sword will be yours. Remember when you wield it__ _ _that__ _ _if you have to fight__ _ _you gotta__ _ _aim for a killing blow. Or you'll be knee deep in shadow demon trying to rescue you__ _ _and complaining about their ruined souffle__ _ _."__

Kim had never lifted a sword with the intention to use it for real and he wouldn't have known how to aim for a killing blow even if he had needed to. But it wasn't hard to windmill the blade in clumsy, sweaty paws and score a glancing blow against the side of passing enemy. The sword connected and scraped away a little cold vampire flesh, welling dead blood onto the blade. Runes in the hilt glowed, the vampire and Kim stared at the sword as it began to vibrate in his paws. Then several things happened almost at the same time.

Kim looked up and caught his father's horrified gaze on his face. He staggered forward and let the demon sword fall hilt-first into Jake's paw, whispering; "I love you, Dad."

The air exploded with the buzzing of demonic wings and a voice screamed his father's name. A shadow hurtled past him and enveloped Finn and Jake before melting into the air and taking them away to safety. Job done, Kim let the last of his adrenaline fuelled strength drain away and sank to his knees.

Hands grabbed at him and tore his suit jacket away. Fangs pierced his flesh. So many fangs, too deep, pain like he'd never felt. Pain like they were tearing him apart in their fury, like they were sucking the blood right out of him from a thousand tiny puncture marks. But the impact to his skull from stabbing the vampire with his horn was dulling everything, making it dream-like and distant. There'd been so many things he wished he'd have time to say, messages for his mother, his siblings, Pat. But what had mattered most was that Jake knew how sorry he was, that his eldest son loved him. Kim Kil Whan closed his eyes and let his memories of happier times wash over him. He thought about playing with his brother under the big tree, listening wide eyed to his father's bedtime stories as Jake tucked him in with a kiss on the forehead and a smile for his brave sons. Happy days eating breakfast with his aunt and uncle, racing Gran Gran through the evening sky, reading with Grandma. The family he'd wanted to have with Pat one day. He didn't even feel the last drop of marbled blood leave his body or the painless veil of death separate his soul from the world's troubles.

…

Watching Matilda's face contort in pain as she slept was a special kind of torture. Bonnibel stared harder from where she sat by the other woman's bed, willing her to wake and maybe give her one of those heart stopping smiles she remembered so well.

Bonnie knew her memories were false. On a purely intellectual level she knew everything she thought she understood about her wife was false, that her feelings were a lie and her mind had been corrupted. But the wedding band on her finger was real, the photographs of her and the grey skinned vampire she didn't remember were real. So far she hadn't been able to bring herself to spend any time with Marceline; people told Bonnie that the dark haired woman was her true wife, that they loved each other deeply, had been together for more than a century. Maybe it was true, maybe she had once kissed dusky grey lips and never spared a thought for Matilda. But it wasn't true anymore.

In her memories she heard Matilda's voice shake with joy as she repeated her vows at their wedding, she saw the beautiful redhead stretched out next to her in bed, smiling sleepily at her and running a hand possessively across her hips. It was almost more than she could take, those memories felt so real. Knowing that she was tearing that Marceline woman's heart in two but being unable to find even a tiny grain of caring about it within herself. Not when Tilda was sick, when her abdomen was swollen with a human baby they never thought they'd be able to have together.

And then there was Zoe. Every time Bonnie saw her with her wi- no, with _Matilda_ , they weren't truly married- it ripped at her heart a little more and tore away another little shred of self control. Matilda adored Zoe, stared at her with her beautiful blue eyes, smiled for her like she smiled for nobody else. And Zoe clung to Matilda like she was scared the redhead would disappear when she wasn't looking.

It was mental torture. She shouldn't really be there in Tilda's sick room while the slept, but Bonnie had been unable to keep away. It was so lonely sleeping on her own in that big bed in the royal apartments when everything was designed for two. It made no difference who had shared her bed before the rebel vampire had messed with her memories, either way her body remembered she'd been accustomed to another person lying up against her. She couldn't sleep restfully, couldn't think of anything but Matilda and her soft cold kisses and sensitive skin, the way she'd sigh and quiver against Bonnie's touch during their intimate moments, the way her eyes widened almost in shock when her moment of pleasure overcame her-

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about it, tried not to think about anything at all. She should go, she didn't want to cause a scene.

"Oh, hey. Did you need to talk to me?"

The weak voice from the bed, still rough from sleep, drew her gaze back to lock with Matilda's intensely ice blue eyes.

"Did I wake you? I came to see how you're feeling, and to tell you that I have the result of your amniocentresis test. Our baby is healthy and growing well, Dr Princess thinks it'll be another few weeks and we can risk an elective c-section. She should be strong enough to breathe on her own just with a little help and you can start treatment for your cancer." Bonnie told her softly. She tried to keep her voice smooth and professional, it took a moment for her exhausted brain to realise why the redhead was staring at her.

"She?" Matilda whispered.

"I'm sorry, did you want the gender to be a surprise?"

"I… no. I hadn't even thought about it. So wow, I'm gonna have a daughter. That's gonna take some getting use to."

"There was something else I wanted to show you." Bonnie announced in a rush when the silence lapsed between them. "It won't take long. I just wanted to show you while we still can. I mean, before you get too big to move easily."

 _Before Zoe is finished in her strategy meeting with Marceline and comes back and I have to leave again_.

Neither said it but the words hung heavy and accusative in the air anyway. Matilda shrugged and held out a hand to be helped up from her sick bed. Even now it still felt like a knife through the heart when Bonnie saw the empty space on her wife's hand where a matching silver wedding ring should have been.

It was no distance at all to the window and Bonnie was more than happy to take Matilda's weight as she made her way slowly across the room with the taller woman's arms around her shoulders. The window was wide but heavily draped, after so many centuries it was habit for Matilda to avoid the sunlight even though her doctor had advised she needed to boost her vitamin D production. She flinched when the queen pulled the draped back to reveal a dramatic pink and gold sunset blazing across the western skyline.

"It's beautiful." Matilda murmured. Her heart, still so strange to be beating at all, sped up a little when the candy woman took her hand.

"Just you wait. I have more than just this planned."

She threw the window opened and whistled; a moment later the whir of huge wings announced the arrival of The Morrow and Bonnie was turning to Matilda with a proud smile, motioning her to sit at the window and allow herself to be slid onto the giant eagle's back. Matilda hesitated for just one single, solitary second before she shrugged again and let herself be helped out into the evening air. Zoe was so busy with vampire business these days, Marceline was stressed and secretive, the company of what had until recently been her own kind was unsettling in a way it never had been when she'd been undead. And even if her queen was going to murder her for it, Matilda would enjoy some time alone with the candy queen before her end came. She figured she was dying anyway, why not spend some of her last minutes on a giant eagle with someone who didn't hold her like she was fragile and might shatter at any second?

They lifted into the air with one beat of the eagle's powerful wings and set off into the warm light. Matilda closed her eyes and sighed when warm arms circled her from behind, how long had it been since she'd felt the wind against her skin and smelled fresh air instead of the antiseptics of her hospital room?

"I've wanted to show you this for so long."

Matilda opened her eyes again because the words stirred the vague memory of a memory but the magnificence of the sunset stole her breath and kept her from trying too hard to remember. There were colours all around her and filling her vision, reds and golds and pinks and blues. Colours that she hadn't fully seen for centuries, hadn't been able to appreciate with undead eyes the way a human could. It was more beautiful than anything she'd seen in all her long years, more beautiful than the Tribe or her childhood or any of her human memories. She turned to meet the queen's eyes and found her heart speeding up again.

"You wanted to show me the sunset?" Matilda whispered.

"For centuries. So many nights I stood out on my balcony and watched the sunset and I knew that soon it would be dark and you'd come back. So many times I wanted you by my side already. I loved the sun, hated it because you couldn't love it too. And now you can."

Matilda wanted to tell her that she'd never waited for the sun to set before visiting a beautiful princess on her balcony, that as wonderful as those memories were they weren't really of her. But she looked into soft, rose-coloured eyes so full of love and emotion and the words died in her throat. Maybe just for that one perfect moment she could pretend.

Eyes fluttered closed. Warm lips found warm lips and it was dizzyingly sweet for a single heartbeat. Until the mint-green of Zoe's eyes flashed in her memory. The day in the forest when they'd been foraging, the way they'd tumbled together down a steep bank and landed breathless and tangled in each other, how right it had felt to lean forward and kiss the other girl. How wrong it felt to kiss anyone else beneath the gradual explosion of sunset colours. Matilda pulled back regretfully.

"I can't." she murmured, looking away and feeling her cheeks heat with delayed shame.

"It's because of her, isn't it?" Bonnie asked. Her voice was detached, cold again, and her arms had fallen from around the other woman. Some part of Matilda mourned that warmth and closeness, begged her to just apologise and not to ruin their moment.

"I just can't." she begged. "Because of Zoe, because of Marcy, because of all of this-"

She'd motioned behind them, back to the palace rising into the sky and the kingdom stretched out below it. But as her eyes focussed on the distance she frowned and the candy queen turned to see what was wrong.

"Why are the flags halfway down the pole like that?" Matilda asked curiously. She had a vague sense of dread growing in the pit of her stomach but she couldn't remember what the flags being lowered meant, why it was important.

"They're flying the flags at half-mast. That's royal protocol, it means a member of the royal family has died But- but they're all safely in the palace." Bonnie stuttered in shock. Her body felt numb and cold, terror was pumping where blood had been in her veins a second before. "Morrow! Home, as fast as you can!"

It took mere seconds to land on her balcony again, call for someone to help Matilda back to her sick room and hurry down to the throne room to the news that her eldest grandson had been killed in a rescue mission she'd expressly forbidden.

Bonnie sent away everyone but her children because somewhere in the back of her brain she still knew she needed to maintain her appearance to the subjects of her kingdom. And once they were alone she screamed, she cried, she threw accusations and asked hysterical questions about what the fuck they'd been thinking, who'd made the decision, why had they all been so incredibly stupid? No, she didn't care that the puppies were fine and hiding out in LSP's treehouse with their mother. She didn't care that Jake had been injured- of course she cared! But Kim is dead!

In the end there were no more tears left to shed, she'd cried herself dry. She sent them away; Finn to his room to be with his pregnant girlfriend, Phoebe to the dungeons to arrange Yrran's things for a remembrance service since it seemed the hairless cat demon had been killed too. And Jake, limping and hollow eyed, never once disagreeing with her that he was solely to blame for his son's death, she didn't know where he'd gone. To be with TV, perhaps. Or to the crystal room to contact Lady. Bonnie couldn't even look at her eldest son.

She was alone and retreated to her study to finally cry some more and try to make sense of the day's revelations. Where had Marceline been? She called herself a mother but she hadn't stopped the children from their dangerous mission, she hadn't accompanied them or protected them. In fact the grey skinned vampire hadn't been seen in hours. It was all Bonnie needed to finalize her decision and send for Peppermint Butler.

He arrived with a cautious knock on the door, bowing and offering her his deepest condolences. Bonnie ignored him, that was nothing she had any more space in her emotionally fragile heart to worry about.

"Peps, I need you to go to the file room and bring me a copy of Application D2-VB-12." she told him briskly. He looked up sharply and met her eyes with his own horrified gaze.

"D2-VB-12? But… Your Highness, that's-"

"I know what the application is for, Peppermint! I'm ordering you to bring it for me, now!" Bonnie snapped. He bowed and hurried away, returning only minutes later while she rearranged the stationery on her desk in agitation.

Bonnie took the paper her offered with hands that she did not allow to tremble and read through it twice to make sure the details were correct and she understood what she was doing. She'd designed the forms herself and knew every word of the declaration at the bottom of the page from memory. With a decisive nod she signed her name and read through it one last time to be sure.

 _ _APPLICATION FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE  
(DIVORCE)__

 _ _I, Bonnibel Bubblegum, as self-represented plaintiff without minor children or dependents hereby give my consent for the legal jurisdiction of the Candy Kingdom to recognise that I no longer wish to be associated with my former spouse (named overleaf) in any claim of marriage or civil habitation. The reason for my application is irreconcilable differences that make it impossible for the marriage to continue. I give my full consent for the courts of my kingdom to request further supporting documentation if required and hereby declare that I am legal separated from my now former spouse.__

There was a matching declaration for Marceline to sign and information she needed to fill in about the date and location of their marriage as well as documentation to prove she had been a resident of the Candy Kingdom for more than six months. But with the official declaration of intention to divorce signed Bonnie at least felt a little calmer. She handed the paperwork back to Peppermint Butler and avoided his pleading gaze.

"I'm going to my rooms, I don't want to be disturbed tonight unless it's something urgent. Make sure she signs her copy." she commanded, before sweeping from the room in determination, head held high and jaw clenched against any of the traitorous emotions that threatened to spill past her control. It was for the best, Bonnie told herself. A clean slate for them all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Surprise update! Because somehow I am on a roll with this story. I know I owe you something lighter and the new chapter of Now We Are Five is delayed af but I am working on that too, I promise.**

 **So fanchildren, a quick question for you. How would people feel about the possibility of contributing to a crowdfunding project to get an original novel length story written and published? I've been working on it for a while, developing ideas and plots. It would be about a dryad and a plague, survivors and mythological beasts and how the world is not completely how us humans think it is. Anyway, if it's something you'd be interested in drop me a PM and I'll send you the prologue.**

 **Remember when I told you I wasn't CS Lewising you? There is a partial explanation contained within this chapter. And this is where I admit to being a bad fake fan, I've not kept up with any of the newest episodes and I have no idea if Hunson's backstory/origin is included or explored. But given how AU this trilogy is anyway I figured you'd be able to deal with it being a touch divergent? We've already established the events of Foundlings Universe take place on a separate but parallel timeline to the canon series.**

 **Content warning: references to thoughts of self-harm, grief, backstory that may not be canon consistent, exposition, alternative demonic names, torture references. I promise the next chapter will have some light in it!**

* * *

The very last thing Marceline wanted to deal with was a room full of vampires and werewolves. More than anything she wanted to be alone, with nothing but her axe bass for company and the moon and the open sky. She wanted to transform into the biggest hellbeast she'd ever attempted and scream her agony until the whole night shook with the force of her helpless rage and grief. Perhaps she wanted to rip at her skin again and again, watch the vicious wounds open and close until her nose was full of the scent of her own cold blood. Or find some willing mouth and fingers, someone who'd fuck her into temporary peace or at least exhaust her enough to sleep without the cacophony of nightmares that assaulted her whenever she closed her eyes. It didn't matter now anyway, it wasn't like it was cheating. Bonnie wanted a divorce and Marceline couldn't find it in herself to blame her. But nobody cared what she wanted, in truth they never really had, and instead of taking to the air to scream or dragging some lucky vampire back to her bed she was there in the throne room overseeing Stefan and Elliot rummaging through the minds of their newest allies to check they were all truthful. It wouldn't have felt right anyway, Marceline realised. Perhaps she'd never share intimacy with anyone again for the rest of her unlife.

"Next." Stefan called in a hollow, emotionless voice. He'd been just as strongly affected by the death of Kim as they all were, blamed himself because he should have kept a better watch on the kids and made sure they were protected. Marceline didn't blame him for what had happened. She blamed herself.

A familiar woman floated forward out of the crowd and a feeling that wasn't self loathing or crushing grief briefly flared in Marceline's mind.

"Keila?"

"Hey. It's been a while." the curly haired vampire greeted her shyly.

"Years. Grod, I've not seen you since-" _since my wedding day._

"Yeah, since forever." Keila interrupted her hastily. She knew, they all knew.

"I figured you might have died, it'd been that long. What kept you?"

"You know me, Marce. Fighting isn't my style."

"So you're what, just here to jam?"

"Nah. Garrett decided if I wasn't with him I was against him and tried to smoke me out of my cottage. Nearly burned up in the sun escaping but I'm pretty sure he lost at least one of his lackeys trying to recruit me. I mean, not that I wasn't totes gonna come and help you because we're buds and all but, ah, let's just say he gave me the push I needed to recognise how urgent the situation was."

Keila had always been flaky and prone to fits of inertia. Like the majority of vampires it seemed that if there wasn't something directly in it for her she needed a pretty big fire lit under her ass to actually do anything. Literally, in this case. But Garrett had miscalculated if he thought that he'd be successful in recruiting one of the Scream Queens against her own band mate. It was good to see her old friend again after so long. Stefan was staring at Keila with intense purpose, eyes hard and focused and no doubt letting his Talent scour every corner of her mind extra thoroughly.

"She's clean." he announced after a long pause.

"This one too." Elliot joined in from where she'd been assessing a skinny vampire with sleepy eyes across the room. "Most of these are free Matouk who have no good reason to be loyal to the super-douches anyway. They're not particularly in love with you either but they figured you're the best bet for right now. Self interested pricks mostly, I wouldn't trust them to do more than nod and agree so long as you can keep them fed and safe from the immediate threat of staking. They're not exactly an army."

"I didn't expect them to be." Marceline replied. It was what she'd figured, they were basically refugees who'd fled to her because the raid on Goblin City and the loss of a significant chunk of their werewolf day guardians had shaken them. Most of the pack had left to join Laika in LSP's treehouse anyway since the vampires had no leverage over them now and only the few loyal to the werewolf matriarch's hotheaded son Pasha remained. Overall it was a good thing but she couldn't help feeling that the pack's gratitude in being free from their servitude wouldn't extend to fighting against their former masters, not when so many lives had already been lost. And then the grief twisted and sunk its claws into her mind again and she realised she didn't particularly give a fuck what they had planned or what happened to them. Kim was dead. Her marriage was over. It was difficult to find the motivation to care about anything much anymore.

The vampires who'd slipped away and made the dangerous journey to the Candy Kingdom were staring at her expectantly and Marceline bit back and weary sigh. She didn't care where they went either, she'd run out of energy somewhere between her war council being interrupted with the news that her grandson was dead and her ex wife serving her with divorce papers directly afterwards. Suddenly she realised there was very little to keep her from just walking up to Estelle and Garrett and challenging them to two-vs-one combat, it would at least give her a chance to vent some rage. But Finn was occupying Bonnie's throne in her her absence and he was staring at her with eyes puffy from hours of crying at his brother's bedside. Even without Bonnie, Marceline still had a family to fight for. She let her gaze fall across the crowd of newly arrived vampires again and didn't bother to keep the exhaustion or disdain out of her voice when she addressed them.

"Go find space in the dungeons, tell the Grimmalks to move their shit and you can sleep down there. I will torture each and every one of you to death if a single drop of blood is consumed by anyone, you get me? No fighting. No blood drinking. If you need something ask someone else, I am not someone you wanna talk to right now. We're done here, get lost."'

They floated out in groups, muttering to each other and casting her long looks that ranged from curious to downright hostile. Marceline didn't even watch them go, she'd already grabbed her bass from behind the throne and was making for the nearest window.

"Are you coming back tonight?" Stefan asked her sadly. She stiffened in the air, knowing what he was asking and what the implication was.

"Probably not. Go to her, make sure she's not working herself to death in that stupid lab. We both know how she gets when she's upset."

He nodded but she didn't turn to see it, too busy fumbling with the window. Her hands were shaking too badly and after a couple of seconds she growled in frustration and simply punched through the sun-proof glass then barrelled out into the cool night air. That could be repaired later, or not, Marceline didn't care. It was Bonnie's problem now, Bonnie's palace and Bonnie's window and Bonnie's stupid kingdom. She didn't belong there anymore.

Perhaps one of the Grimmalks on guard in the town wondered if it was going to rain, perhaps a drop of cold water hit his neck as a shadow passed overhead. Probably a small cloud, he figured. The night looked clear enough and he had to keep his demon eyes wide for vampires, it didn't even occur to him that it might have been a single tear full of helpless grief and fury and not a stray raindrop.

…

Betty Groff got shit done. It had always been that way, back in her student days and in the world before the portal. She'd gotten her assignments done way in advance so she could go to the rallies and protests, shout her objections to the patriarchy and the atom bombs and the war in Vietnam right along with her sisters in arms and still make sure her student loans were being spent effectively. She'd wasted no time in making a move when a handsome, bookish man in the library with olive skin and a red bow tie had shyly asked if he could share her table, the others were all full and he had a deadline coming up. Of course he could, in fact she was just on her way to refill her coffee in the student lounge, would he like some?

" _Oh, how thoughtful. Yes, thank you. I'm afraid the political intrigue of Scandinavia that lead to the Treaty of Kiel kept me up rather late last night. You see, it formally dissolved the Dano-Norwegian union and lead to the territory of Norway being ceded to the Swedes and eventually declared an independent country. It- I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Simon, and I'm sorry for babbling. I just really need to finish this paper or I'll stand no chance of getting a place on the expedition."_

" _Oh, you're heading overseas? That's rad, I'd love to travel one day. I'm Betty."_

" _I'm majoring in Antiquities and History, there's not much to really research or acquire here unless I wanted to go to South America. And I must admit I prefer a colder climate. What about you, what are you studying?"_

" _Poli-sci. Political science, it's all about what's going on. You know? Lemme go grab those coffees and I can tell you about why John F Kennedy_ _was_ _n't the sort of president people think he_ _was_ _."_

And after that they'd never stopped talking, and Betty hadn't wasted any time in inviting him over to look at some books then leaning in and kissing him right on the mouth on her threadbare sofa while the Beatles crooned in the background. Poor Simon hadn't stood a chance, the love of a woman like Betty Groff wasn't something you could just walk away from. So he'd shyly asked her to wave him goodbye at the airport before departing for Scandinavia with his professor and the rest of their research team a few months later. Of course she'd been there to see him off, and even though she'd expected it she'd still gasped in surprise and cried happy tears when he'd gotten down on one knee and fumbled an engagement ring onto her finger before he had to go or risk missing his flight.

Then Simon had come back, brimming with pride because he'd made the purchase of his young career and this crown was like nothing he'd ever seen before, it was going to rewrite the history of medieval Europe as they knew it.

" _Look, I'm King Christien Frederick of Denmark!"_

In her mind's eye she still saw the moment the madness overtook his eyes as he placed the crown on his head, saw the ice crystals form around his hands and the colour leech from his skin until he was paler than death, tinged blue and laughing maniacally. The moment playfulness turned to insanity and her love was lost forever.

Betty had ran, out of their apartment and out of the building and towards the telephone booth at the end of the road to call for help. And then before she reached her destination the strange, teddy bear shaped portal had opened and she wasted no time in making her decision, like always. She didn't regret coming to the future but sometimes she wished she could have kissed Simon just that one last time, placed her head against his chest and listened to his voice rumble as he told her she was his princess. Well she wasn't about to let a vampire invasion stop her, she was on a mission. Just because Marceline was distracted with undead drama didn't mean that Betty had forgotten about saving Simon from the crown's madness. So she left the palace daily and went out into the towns and villages, searching for magic and anyone she could learn from like always. It was just unfortunate that she'd found herself dangerously close to goblin territory as the daylight was beginning to fade from the sky. Her whole being went cold in terror when an unexpected voice addressed her.

"Here's a riddle. What looks human, smells human, is full of delicious human blood and forgot to check how late in the day it was getting before they went out for a wander?"

Betty spun at the taunting voice and found herself face to face with an unfamiliar vampire. He hung upside down in the air and grinned with wickedly sharp fangs before flipping upright and waving a lazy hand in the direction of what she belatedly realised was the outer wall of Goblin City.

"Wait, I know the answer to this one. Is it dinner?" another voice joined in. She spun again to find a second vampire materializing out of the trees behind her with a matching grin on her pale face.

"I'm not afraid of you." Betty announced, because it was all her terrified brain could think to stay.

"Sure, sure. That's why you stink of fear. Delicious, salty fear. How about you try to make a run for it, huh? Get that heart pumping some adrenaline, you taste so much better when you've been chased down." the man told her. His voice was almost kind, if she hadn't heard the words his tone could have sounded like he actually cared about her. Betty took a step back and tried to keep them both in her line of sight. A new voice interrupted them and made even the vampires jump.

"What are you two idiots doing now? You're suppose to be on guard, if I have to tell Garrett that- is that a _wild_ _human_?"

"Hey, we saw her first!" the female vampire told the newcomer hotly. He was another tall, pale vampire with his hair slicked up into a quiff like the fratboys who'd wolf whistled her on campus before she'd come through the portal and even if he hadn't been a monster who was planning on drinking her lifeblood Betty would have hated him on sight just for that.

"I'm calling the boss." newcomer announced. He closed his eyes in a moment of intense concentration while the other two protested.

"Jimbo!"

"Come on, dude! I'm red starved here, I want wild blood! She literally walked into us, you're just gonna hand her over to Garrett for a pat on the head?"

"And who do you know who has ancient humans just sitting around in their pretty pink palace, huh? Idiots. Garrett's on his way now and you'll be lucky if he doesn't stake you both himself for being such chumps." the vampire called Jimbo announced as he opened his eyes.

Betty took a step back, and then another one, holding her terrified breath and willing her traitorous heartbeat to slow back down. It has been reckless to come out here so late in the day and now she had a tiny sliver of a chance to escape. The three vampires were all arguing amongst themselves about who this Garrett character was going to be pissed or pleased with, about whether he'd let them eat her afterwards or even have a little snack first. The female vampire pointed out that Betty didn't need all her blood to stay alive anyway and she'd be easier to interrogate if she was enthralled. Jimbo called her a moron and said Garrett would probably stake her first. Betty took another step back and glanced around herself. She was close to a tree, she could dart around it and slip away while they were busy wasting time and if she was lucky she could make it back out to the open road where the late afternoon sunlight still lingered before they saw she'd gone anywhere. A fourth step back, almost there-

Cold arms closed around her from above and a voice muttered in her ear;

"Where are you headed, babydoll? Don't you wanna stay and party with the cool cats?"

Betty reeled in horror and looked around into the smirking face of- _President Kennedy?_

But no, this vampire was younger than the ancient president had been, his deathly pale face a little softer and hair a little lighter. But there was no mistaking that smile or those eyes, no doubt what family he had belonged to a millennium ago.

"You're a Kennedy." Betty blurted.

"Good catch! Garrett Kennedy, at your service. Vampire King and career politician. And you, woah your threads are rad! Look at you, you look like you stepped right outta Woodstock! Far out! Hey, you wanna come see my new capital city? We're building a new herd and a pretty young dame like you could be the founding breeder, just imagine! You and that human prince the royal ditz is hoarding, we could revitalise the whole bloodline! Heard his chick was knocked up so we already know he's good for the job. Him, you, his girl, the kid. And whatever monstrosity Tilda's got growing in her if it's not too fucked up from radiation or whatevs. We'll have wildblood again for centuries." Garrett told her with another charming smile.

Betty gaped at him. She had no idea what he was talking about but it seemed to involve forcibly mating her with Prince Finn like she was some sort of thoroughbred horse. The hands that held her in an iron grip prevented her from trying to twist away but he wasn't pinning her legs and Betty had plenty of experience being manhandled by thugs of the opposition at protest rallies back before the portal. She didn't waste her energy on replying or struggling, she simply brought her knee upwards between his legs as hard and fast as she knew how. Turned out it was plenty hard and fast.

His eyes crossed in pain and a high pitched whimper escaped his lips as Betty shrugged downwards against the suddenly slack grip. Her jacket came loose and she slithered backwards out of it, making a break for the trees before Garrett had recovered or the other three vampires had worked out what was going on. They were kneeling before their self proclaimed King and hadn't been watching, it gave Betty a split-second head start.

It wouldn't have been enough if reality hadn't torn right behind her, in what she belatedly realised was a portal opening. It was similar to the one she'd jumped through into the future but oval and easily large enough to step through. A man appeared, ashen faced with pointed ears, dressed in a well fitting and expensive looking tailor made suit that was somehow blacker than anything Betty had ever seen before. The vampires froze in confusion and even though every instinct in her soul screamed at Betty to keep running her legs ignored her and stayed rooted to the spot. He looked like Marceline, same chiselled cheekbones and inhuman green eyes. And he was looking at her with a frown.

"Excuse me, miss. I don't mean to intrude, I think I may have misjudged the portal a little. My great grandson has just died, you see, and I was rather distracted. I'm on my way to his memorial service. Which way would one go from here to get to the Candy Kingdom?" he asked politely.

"Who the fuck are you, man?" Garrett snarled before Betty could find her tongue and formulate a reply. The man turned, frowning.

"Language, son. We have a lady present. I- _Kennedy?"_

Garrett's crimson eyes widened in shock as he took in the newcomer and he staggered in the air, flinging his arms wide and holding back the snarling vampires who'd leaped to defend him.

" _Abaddon_. The destroyer, the father of lies. You shot my uncle! You- _holy fuck_ , you look like _her._ Guys, split! NOW!"

The air blurred with the speed of their departure and Betty was left alone with the grey skinned man in the gathering gloom. She should be afraid, she knew it, but the imminent threat of death or enslavement had passed and there was only one person this man could be. The world was fucked up beyond belief and who would have ever thought that good, honest, Catholic Betty Groff would kneel in thanks before the Devil himself? But she did, gladly.

"I owe you my life." Betty told him, in an approximation of the official Royal Protocol words Finn had taught her in return for his lessons in human culture. "I am in your debt and eternal service."

"Oh, none of that, my dear. Were those vampires bothering you? Damn Kennedies, I thought I'd wiped the last of them out centuries ago. Do you happen to know the way to the Candy Palace? I'm afraid I'm rather late."

They walked together, the last sane ancient human from the world before and the Lord of Evil himself, talking and sharing memories. Someone else who'd been there when the world was different, who remembered things that she had nobody but the undead to reminisce with now.

"So you were against the Vietnam War? I thought that would have been your whole deal." Betty asked as they approached the edge of the Candy Forest.

"I was… vain, I suppose, in my relative youth. Full of a vision for the future that involved my heir on the throne of the world. And if they continued trying to destroy themselves before I'd even conceived Marceline then there would be no world left to rule. I eliminated Kennedies as a matter of urgency, at the time they seemed most likely to be the ones who would bring things to a head before my plans had time to ripen. You remember the Cuban Missile Crisis?" Hunson asked.

"Of course. The closest we ever came to all-out nuclear war. Or, well… I suppose, before the Mushroom War. It's still hard to wrap my head around it."

"The Cold War stayed cold because I spent an awful lot of time on both sides of the table, debating and sabotaging and one time in pure desperation disarming a ten megaton warhead when everything else had failed. Obviously my efforts were in vain, in the end. And now I suppose in a way, my daughter does rule over all of mankind."

"How so?" Betty asked curiously.

"You'll notice that word, 'mankind'? Not humankind, not humanity, not all the peoples of the earth. No, the word 'mankind' was very specific in the books of prophecy, and for a good reason." he replied with a sad smile.

Betty gasped as it all came together in her mind.

"Because in the whole world, the only male human left is Finn. And as well as his adoptive mother Marceline is also his queen. She literally rules over all of mankind!" Betty announced, proud of herself for figuring it out.

"There… I have not told him this, for fear of sending him on a dangerous and pointless quest. There are other humans out there. Finn did not spring up from the ground in a pea pod, he was born to a human woman and a human man. But by the terms of her sovereignty over the vampires, humans are regarded as 'pre-vampire' and therefore would fall under Marceline's rule whether they realise it or not. That was the pretext she used to make her adoption of Finn legal in the first place. So she is the Queen of Mankind, in a way that is both vague enough to be flexible and still fulfil the prophesy." Hunson explained. They were drawing to the gates of the main town and the Banana Guards and Grimmalks saluted him as he passed; the cat demons bowed low to their lord and master and even the sugar brained fruits with spears weren't dim enough to challenge anyone so obviously related to Queen Marceline.

"Prophesy. It's all about prophesy, isn't it?" Betty asked thoughtfully as she walked by his side.

"It always has been. Ever since the world was young and the belief of primitive humans brought my demons and I into existence. Prophesies are alive, they want to come true. There's no escaping your fate, the best you can hope to do is manage circumstances so that they fall out the way you plan. As with my daughter and the end of the world. I'd hoped to delay the bombs until she was old enough to enter the political sphere and unite the world beneath our banner. I had not counted on how the conflicting prophesies would twist against each other. And so ever since I have collected as many as I can from as many sources as I could find. Books, ancient oracles, films, songs, stories. All of it is as valid and real as any other and I had discounted most of it for being from a less established source than their human holy books. The world is not how I thought it was, or how the ancient humans thought it was. There was never a God, not in that sense. There is no Devil either, just the summation of their terrors and beliefs made manifest in me. All there is, is prophesy. The cosmos has a plan, Betty Groff. It- Finn!"

He broke off as they entered the courtyard and his grandson barrelled into his arms, hugging him tightly and sniffing in a way that sounded suspiciously tearful.

"Granddaddy, we were waiting for you. Mom's gone… somewhere. I dunno, I guess she's not coming. Mama's too mad to even look at anyone and Jake's- he's just broken, he keeps denying reality. Phoebe's carrying around this stupid knit sweater she was making for her Grimmalk and nobody will tell me anything at all, Victoria wants to see her Dad and, and-"'

He broke off as the tears overwhelmed him again, sobs muffled as he pressed his face against his grandfather's impossibly black suit. Hunson rubbed the boy's back soothingly and murmured quiet reassurances to him as Betty again nodded her thanks for the rescue before melting away into the shadows and back to her rooms with her overcrowded brain buzzing. The Devil himself had destroyed the Kennedies because they were a threat to his daughter's eventual rule, although it seemed he'd missed one. Marceline ruled all mankind and that only really meant Finn and Finn's baby if it was a boy. There was no Satan, not really. Hunson was man's fear and superstition made flesh through the force of their belief. And there was no God. Just magic, prophesy, the cosmos. Would knowing any of this help her save her beloved Simon? How would it all end? Was there a prophesy for that too? She didn't know and it plagued her thoughts even as she slid into sleep.

…

"Again. Tell me about your master."

The bloodied, bruised creature chained to the floor in front of him only snarled again and unsheathed his claws uselessly, clenching and unclenching his paws even though they were held in place at his sides. Garrett sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm gonna hurt you again, kitty. And you're gonna scream again. And it's just gonna keep on happening until you tell me about the Lord of Evil. I didn't leave you alive because I like looking at your dumb face, you look like a fucking scrotum with teeth. Tell. Me. About. Abaddon."

The demon struggled to focus on his face and drew a pained breath through his swollen lips before replying.

"He is the Prince of Darkness, the Beginning and the End, Lord of the Flies, the Destroyer of Worlds. His name is terror and his will is absolute. His is the Beast and the domain of all that is unholy, he shall pour forth across the kingdoms of man with fire and death-"

A hand whirred out of the darkness and twisted the smashed bones of the demon's leg against each other, grinding nerves and flesh between the sharp ends of the fractures. He screamed and thrashed and Garrett snarled, sick of hearing the same pre-prepared bullshit time and time again. He'd been to church as a kid, he knew who Satan was. What he wanted to know was how a demon of incredible power wearing a masculine version of his enemy's face had magically appeared at the exact moment to snatch his surprise wild human from his hands, how the Lord of Evil was linked to the Vampire Queen, what the fuck was going on. And all he was hearing was the same old shit, titles and biblical predictions and useless crap. He was getting frustrated. Demon blood was… it gave him a rush of strength but left him feeling clouded, almost drunk. It wasn't a good feeling for someone who thrived on being in control. Reluctantly Garrett grasped a naked, bruised shoulder and sunk his fangs into the hot flesh, cringing at the weird sensation in his mind when he loosed his Talent. He was searching for memories, anything that could be used, but demons were so hard to read and control. This one's whole life moved like a blurry high-speed movie.

 _Abandoned. Orphanage, no Grimmalk parent wanted to claim a hairless runt. Bullied, belittled, ignored. He turned to books and lost himself in tales of the world above. Shunned by other demons, excluded from the constant chaos of the Nightosphere. He discovered the music and Lady Evil became his hero, the demon who had escaped and built a life for herself in a new dimension. And then he'd signed up to the military to finally meet her. Instead he'd met a flame girl, blue and warm, shielded against burning, eyes full of spirit and intelligence. And now he was here. He thought of his flame girl a lot, he thought of looking down into the depths of her eyes as they danced at her birthday ball. He thought about books and stories and warm things, about knit sweaters and heated beds._

Useless shit. He thought about fucking _useless shit_ and Garrett was too pissed off to dig through more memories of a half grown naked cat demon reading ancient books about the surface world and dreaming about one day seeing it for himself. He knew nothing, he was no use to them. Garrett would have killed him there if not for a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Let me try." Estelle whispered.

"Babe, you're too sick. And he's pathetic, like, the most pathetic chump I ever went through. His memories are all just blah blah, reading a book, blah blah, dancing with a girl. There's nothing in there worth looking at."

But Estelle was ignoring him and crouching down to the prone figured chained whimpering in his chains. She regarded him with a cocked head and a private smile.

"This one knows fear almost as well as I do." she announced after a second. "Don't you, pretty kitty? He's scared he's not good enough for anyone, scared he's a failure as a demon. Scared he's not cold blooded enough to be a Grimmalk but too much a demon to ever fit in up here. Scared he'll never be good enough for _her_. And… what's that? Scared he'll die never knowing what a firefly is? Huh. That's a new one on me. Ohh… scared that _she'll_ be targetted? Why is that, pretty kitty? I see. Scared we'll find out his pretty flame princess is Abadeer's adopted daughter. That is interesting, isn't it? A bookish failure of a demon cat, in love with his mistress' daughter. The same daughter our new ally had stolen from him by none other than Abadeer herself all those years ago. Garrett? This changes everything. I think I found a use for our pretty kitty."

Yrran lifted his head through the fog of pain and hissed at her from where he was chained to the floor, the only small defiance left to him now. He had failed, failed to protect Phoebe and failed to save Prince Jacob's son, failed as a soldier and a guard and a suitor. Now he'd failed Lady Evil and her father. All he could do was hiss and snarl and thrash weakly against his chains while they laughed above him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Surprise! I'm actually updating again! Which is cool because, you know, I've been crap at being an author recently and honestly I've been pretty crap at being a person (don't even ask about how I've been as an employee/girlfriend/daughter/friend because all of those have been baaaad). The take home message here kids, is if your doctor says "Hey your brain doesn't make enough serotonin and you have clinical depression, take this medication to help" you should take your damn medication. Eat healthy, exercise, drink water, go outside in the sunshine, but _take your damn medication_. This has been a Plesiosaur PSA.**

 **So I know I'm breaking my post pattern again and this should be the next chapter of Monster Love. I am working on that, and on a Super Secret Two Chapter Short, but the Full Circle bug bit me hard tonight and instead of clicking through endless pages of doggo memes on fb (this is procrastination behaviour, avoid it if you ever want to be productive) I picked up my keyboard and typed! Can you tell I'm feeling better? Myyyy life, it's good to feel better.**

 **Dad Rock Warning! You may have heard of the Beatles but if your taste in music doesn't run to obscure and old you may not have heard of Wuthering Heights! The song, not the book. But the book is good too. There is a reason the Foundlingsverse is basically a love letter to old uncool music, and we'll get to that later. There are Cosmic Owl tropes (hopefully the last of them) and old timey music that I recommend you do a listen to if you have the inclination. We're gearing up for some big stuff in chapters to come so I apologise if the pacing seems slow here. As promised, there is a little light too. Anyway! On with the show!**

 **Content warning: music references, implied violence, plans and plots, grief, cliffhangers.**

* * *

 _"Let me take you down, cause I'm going to,  
_ _Strawberry fields.  
_ _Nothing is real..."_

 _The voice hung soft and feminine in the air around Bonnie, accompanied by a pulsing bassline. She knew that song. When she concentrated she realised it was one of the ancient ones Matilda had sung before she got sick. Only, not Matilda, Marce-_

 _She waited for the stab of agony that accompanied the dissonant thought but none came and that was all the corroboration that Bonnibel needed to confirm she was in yet another tedious dream. The landscape came more sharply into focus and she sighed, seeing it was both too realistic and too surreal all at the same time. Like the dream in the Ice Fort had been all those months ago when Matilda and Stefan had entered her memories to see- no, not Matilda, M-_

 _"Hooo, you again. You realise I have other people in the cosmos to be giving prophesies to, don't you?"_

 _"I'm not exactly pleased to see you either." Bonnie replied. She didn't need to turn around to know it was the Cosmic Owl who was addressing her. He sighed again, poor thing sounded exhausted. Bonnie wondered if he was having to work double shifts with everything that was going on._

 _"What's the point of warning me about something if I can't figure out the cryptic clues until after it happens?" she asked instead. It was difficult to keep her frustrated hand wringing to herself but she knew it was a tell for when she was stressed and she didn't trust a dream bird made of starlight any further than she could throw him._

 _"What's the point of the sky being blue from the inside if most of the cosmos is black? What's the point of knowledge and power if everything ends in dust? Your Highness, ask yourself; what's the point?" he replied with a sad smile._

 _She turned that thought over in her head while she stared around and listened to the disembodied feminine voice that lingered in the air._

 _"Living is easy with eyes closed.  
Misunderstanding all you see.  
It's getting hard to be someone,  
But it all works out.  
It doesn't matter much to me."_

 _"It's Marceline, isn't it? The singer?" Bonnie finally asked, because she already knew the answer and she wasn't going to think more about the point of it all, not when she realised she probably didn't want to know._

 _"Who else could it possibly be?"_

 _"Matilda?"_

 _His feathered brow furrowed in confusion._

 _"Who's Matilda?"_

 _Bonnie shook her head, exhausted and defeated._

 _"It doesn't matter right now. So this is a Cosmic Owl dream? What is it I need to see?" she asked. It made no difference if she kept the dejection out of her voice and she didn't even try, too worn down from grief for Kim and everything else that had happened._

 _"Look at the sky."_

 _Bonnie looked and realised in that dream-like way it had begun to rain heavily and the sun was completely obscured behind a heavy blanket of bruised thunderclouds. She also became aware when she opened her mouth to talk that the rain tasted strange; a little salty. But when she turned to her guide the clank of something heavy and metallic slowed her and she looked down. She was wearing a suit of bright red enamelled armour, the exact same one that her wife had had commissioned all those years ago when Jake first begged for duelling lessons. The music shifted, changed, and new words rolled in around her before she'd decided which question to ask first._

 _"Out on the wily, windy moors  
We'd roll and fall in green.  
You had a temper, like my jealousy.  
Too hot, too greedy._

 _How could you leave me?  
When I needed to possess you.  
_ _I hated you, I loved you too."_

 _"Bad dreams in the night." Bonnie muttered along to the next line. "This is a bad dream, then. I'm not even surprised anymore. Was there something else? Or did you just come here to disturb my sleep and give me cryptic visions of the sea raining from the sky?"_

 _"Look at the ground."_

 _She looked. They were standing in a meadow not far from her palace, she remembered in vivid detail the hours she'd spent many years before sowing wild strawberry seeds out there on spring mornings to surprise her lover come the summer. The wild strawberries were all in fruit now, tiny and intensely sweet. In fact when she kneeled carefully in the heavy armour to examine them Bonnie realised they were a little over ripe; some of them were spoiling and splitting with juice. It fell in fat, sticky droplets on the ground and a puddle was quickly forming around her. But it wasn't red like the fruit. With a horrified jolt Bonnie realised the juice was actually a dark, syrupy pink. She'd seen it before many times but most vividly on the night she'd gathered all of her courage and bitten down on her own wrist as hard as she could because she'd rather be maimed forever than let anyone hurt their boys. That was her own blood, Bonnie knew it as certainly as she'd ever known anything._

 _"Time to go. You can't keep them waiting." the Cosmic Owl announced. "You know what you need to do?"_

 _"Yeah." she replied softly. And she did, she felt like she'd always known and it was just waiting quietly in a neglected corner of her brain for her to remember._

 _Bonnie stood, nodded to the Cosmic Owl, slammed the visor down on the helmet she found she was wearing and squinted through the rain. They weren't alone, for sure. No, of course not. There in the distance stood a figure hefting a familiar axe and the music was swelling with every step she took. Now it was booming in her ears, making her brain vibrate with words that were so familiar but also subtly wrong._

 _"BONNIE, OH IT'S ME, IT'S MARCY,  
_ _I'VE COME HOME AND I'M,  
_ _SO COLD!  
_ _LET IN THROUGH YOUR WINDOW."_

 _The words spilled forth from candy lips in response, pulled completely without their owner's permission as she strode through the salted rain and the blood pooling across the ground._

 _"Too long I roamed in the night!  
_ _Coming back to her side to put it right!  
_ _Coming home, to Wuthering, Wuthering, Wuthering Heights!  
_ _Marcy, Oh it's me, it's Bonnie!  
I've come home and I'm,  
_ _So cold!"_

 _She was cold, she realised as she swept down into a bow in front of the figure. Cold, and empty. Tired. Ready to come home._

 _The axe swung, the air whistled as it was cleaved by an impossibly sharp blade, and slarlight wings whirred._

Bonnie came awake in her lonely bed and reached out automatically for Matilda. When her hands found nothing but empty space next to her she realised two things.

She needed to talk to Stefan and to Betty Groff, immediately. They needed to get to work. And as the ever present tears ran down her cheeks and found her lips, Bonnie also realised that the sea was not the only water that was naturally salty.

...

It was surprising to find Hunson Abadeer sitting in the guest chair in Betty's room where Finn had spent so many hours studying human culture. But Bonnie got past it quickly, she didn't have time. She turned to the ancient human and simply spit out her request in a rush.

"Betty, I need to know about Strawberry Fields Forever and Wuthering Heights." she announced. To her credit the human simply nodded thoughtfully.

"Strawberry Fields Forever... that's a Beatles song." she replied with a nod. "It's about a place in Liverpool where John Lennon spent time as a child, I think it's supposed to be about lost innocence? And Wuthering Heights, that's a book. It's about... oh, it's been such a long time since Literature class. Revenge, I think. People think it's a love story but it's about Heathcliff taking back what he thinks is rightfully his and damn anyone who gets in his way, even his lover. In the end his quest for revenge drives him insane and destroys him, even when he's the master of Wuthering Heights itself he's still bitter and angry. He drove Cathy into the arms of another man, you see. And then he was indirectly responsible for her death. He was haunted by her, whether for real or just in his mind, and in the end he took his own life. Tragic. Why are you asking about ancient cultural touchstones in the middle of the night, your Highness?"

Bonnie had sunk down into the chair vacated by Hunson, eyes wild and troubled.

"I had another dream." she muttered. "A Cosmic Owl dream. And I heard both of those songs very distinctly. I was in a strawberry field. And I was singing that I was coming home, and I was so cold. Is there a song about the book?"

"Yes." Hunson replied unexpectedly. Both women stared at him and he blushed as much as a demon could. "Uh, well my daughter collects all kinds of music, you know. She used to play that record a lot during the time she lived Below with me. I rather liked that particular singer."

They lapsed into silence for a moment before the Lord of Evil's expression darkened.

"What exactly did the dream show you, Bonnibel?" he asked pensively. She shook her head, unwilling to share the details because a plan was beginning to form in her overactive mind.

"I don't really remember it, just the music." she lied carefully.

"Tell her what you told me about prophesies." Betty interjected. Hunson looked surprised at being ordered to do anything by anyone but just as Simon had discovered all those years earlier, she wasn't a woman to be defied.

"Prophesies act almost like living beings. They want to fulfil their purpose, to come true. In one form or another, they will. There was a prophesy made many thousands of years ago about the heir of Evil and the end of the world and in my arrogance I believed I could manage circumstances to force events in a certain direction. I was wrong and the whole world suffered for it. If you are planning to meddle in the events of a prophetic dream I must strongly warn you to tread as carefully as you possibly can."

"I just wanted to know about the songs." Bonnie lied again. Hunson nodded although she could tell by his face he didn't believe her. She bid them both a good night and took her leave, hurrying away to the suite of rooms further along the same corridor that Stefan had occupied for years now. He met her at the door, having felt the turmoil of her mind from halfway across the palace.

"You had a dream." the heavyset vampire began before Bonnie could open her mouth. "And you need to work on a new project. Urgently."

She looked up to meet his grey eyes and let the last tatters of previously formidable mental defences fall. Stefan's eyes widened as the full content of the dream and the plan shaping in her thoughts washed across his mind.

"Nobody else can know. _Nobody_." Bonnie told him quietly. She didn't need to say out loud who nobody was, Stefan could see it in more detail than he'd ever wished to in his Talent. He nodded, swallowing hard against the bile that wanted to rise in his throat.

"This is going to destroy her." he whispered, horrified. "She's already so broken, and this... I don't know if she'll ever recover."

"I know. And I can't avoid it, there's no running from a prophesy. All I can do is manage the circumstances and hope it works out as well as possible. I know this is risky, I know I'm asking you to split your loyalty to your queen and lineage sister. This must be hell for you, too. Please, Stefan. You're the only one Elliott can't read, you're the only one I can trust with this. Please help me."

He looked into rose coloured eyes, swallowed his horror down one last time and nodded.

"The laboratory. You'll need to stay there for as long as possible, stay out of Elliott's way. Nia, too. Come, we'll make a start."

They hurried away down the corridor together and away to Bonnie's primary laboratory. Neither saw the sun rising or noticed the new day starting, they were both far too engrossed with their project.

…

He always knew when she'd moved in the night. He woke warmer than he was now accustomed to and found her at the window staring out at the mountains as the first thin lines of morning threaded across the horizon. Outlined against the lightening sky he was struck by how her hair shone even when the rest of her was in shadow, like she was made of moondust, and his heart ached just from the simply knowledge that he was hers.

"Couldn't sleep?" Finn murmured huskily as he pressed a still sleep-rough kiss against her smooth neck.

"The baby was kicking." Victoria replied quietly. "I think she misses the snow. Do you think it would be safe to go see Dad today?"

He sighed and let his hands slide around her growing belly protectively, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I dunno, babe. Maybe? I should ask Mom but she's just got too much going on right now. And Mama's in another of her weird obsessive moods, she barely ever leaves her lab these days. She hasn't held court in ages, not since Firefly's birthday ball, I'm worried about her. Worried about them both. Mom said… I dunno, even now I can't believe it's real."

"What?" Victoria prompted, turning in his arms to scan his eyes worriedly.

"Mom said Mama served her with divorce papers. I just never expected it would really happen, you know?" he replied, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh. That must be terrible, your poor mother. Mothers. I can't imagine it's a decision Queen Bubblegum made lightly."

"And Jake's still hurt, Phoebe's mourning the cat demon she was not-dating… I'm so glad I've got you, babe. I feel so lost." Finn admitted. He didn't resist when she took his hand and led him back to the bed, sprawled together so his head was on her hip and hand on their baby bump.

"Tell your silly Dad that he's always, always got us, right baby?" Victoria cooed to her belly. On cue the baby kicked against his palm and Finn laughed despite his worry.

"I'm a grown man with a family of my own on the way. I can do this." Finn told himself. He was a man, men were strong. And he was the last human. He had to be a good ambassador for his species. "Babe? Do you think the baby's gonna have your hair, or mine?"

"We're both blonde." Victoria pointed out. "Your Mama's human genetics book said blonde hair is recessive but if we're both blonde then the baby will be, too."

"I just thought she might get Mom's hair. It'd be cool, right? Your pale blue skin with that black hair. It'd look really cool."

"You're not genetically related to your Mom though. She adopted you."

"No, I know. I wish I was though. It's dumb, I just… I know she's my mother and she loves me and she raised me from a tiny abandoned baby. I just wish she'd had this, the way we do with our baby. This time to wait and expect and think about all the junk we want for her. Y'know?"

"I bet she did all that anyway, while you slept and stuff. I don't think parents ever stop hoping for things for their kids. Dad said once that he wished he was a fisherman, so he could pull the moon's reflection out of a lake and give it to me as a mirror."

"Y'know, I used to think Ice King was mondo weird. But he's a real good guy, deep down." Finn said thoughtfully as he stroked a hand across the growing bump. "He really loves you. And I mean, I get it. I love you, too. Not in the same way. But, it's still love. I'd do anything for you. Anything. I'd- I'd wrestle a bear for you, Victoria."

"Would you… Cut off your arm for me?" she asked, grinning mischievously.

"I only have one good one! Fine, fine, I'll cut off my only good arm and wrestle a bear with my techno-robot hand. Just for you. And for you, little baby." he added, pressing a kiss against her pale bump and making her giggle.

"And will you make the bearskin into a blanket for the baby?" Victoria pressed playfully.

"Of course! It's an evil bear, right?"

"Sure. An evil snow bear, cuz, like it's gotta have pretty white fur. Oh, Finn? Don't damage the fur when you're slaying the evil bear one handed for us."

"As my lady commands, it shall be a bloodless slaying. I'll one-armed smother a super rad evil snow bear for you and make a baby blanket with its fur."

"Will you come down to the kitchen and put together a couple of trays of food? I don't think your brother or sister will be in the dining hall today." Victoria said, smile fading as she thought of the injured Dog and flame elemental she had so recently despised. But Phoebe's pain at losing Yrran was palpable. She blamed herself for his death, blamed that she hadn't held him tighter or that she'd involved him in the first place. It was hard to hate someone who already hated themselves so thoroughly.

With a sigh Finn sat up and helped her to dress for the day before they made their way downstairs to the kitchen. It was very early but the candies who were employed to feed all the new residents of the palace were already awake, toiling over ovens and frying pans, skittering around with huge platters of food that wobbled dangerously close to each other as they passed. Finn swiped a tray of crème puffs for Jake while Victoria helped herself to a bucket of the wood splinters kept for Princess Phoebe in the pantry. She realised she didn't know what Finn's sister liked best to eat so she got as many different types as she could, careful not to hold them for too long in her icy fingers. The last thing Phoebe needed was her breakfast served with a rime of frost.

They parted at the top of the stairs to the Royal Family's suites, Finn bearing his tray along to Jake's room and Victoria heading the other way to Phoebe. She hesitated at the door, suddenly unsure what to say, but she'd promised Finn faithfully to try to get along better with his sister and right now seemed like a good time to try. So she swallowed her nerves and knocked, letting herself in a few moments later when an unintelligible mumble from inside was the only response.

"Leave me alone." Phoebe automatically sighed when the door was opened. She was lying with her arms around the fuzzy blue sweater she'd been knitting, face a picture of misery despite her lack of tears. Victoria slipped inside anyway and placed the bucket of wood on the floor by the bed.

"Finn's bringing breakfast up to Jake, we didn't want you to starve." Victoria informed her softly when the other girl simply stared at her with hard eyes. "I didn't know what your favourite was so I brought a selection. Shall we start with pine?"

"I'm not a baby, you don't need to mother me." Phoebe snapped when Victoria held a sliver of wood up temptingly to her face. The wood didn't move and neither did the flame girl. Eventually Phoebe sighed and opened her mouth, allowing Victoria to feed her.

"I hate pine." she replied around the mouthful. Victoria only nodded and reached down into her bucket for something else.

"Then we'll try… birch? Ash? Something light, to start with."

"Mom always peels the bark off first." Phoebe groused.

"You were just telling me what a big girl you are who doesn't need mothering." Victoria reminded her teasingly.

"I hate you." Phoebe sighed, but there was no heat in the words.

"I know. I think that's just part of being family though."

They sat in silence, Victoria holding pieces of wood up to Phoebe's face and the flame girl reluctantly eating them until her indigo flames had grown a little brighter and some of her old spark was back in her eyes. Then Victoria handed her the bucket and let her feed herself, giving her a least a little dignity. Grief wasn't something the ice princess had ever dealt with but she felt instinctively that despite what Phoebe might say her company was grudgingly needed.

"Did you make this?" Victoria asked after a while, pointing to the blue sweater and remembering that Finn told her his sister had knitted it for the naked Grimmalk.

"For Yrran. I… he was so cold all the time, I thought he could use something softer. The sweaters he had were all so scratchy." Phoebe admitted.

"I wonder, would it be possible to make a smaller one? For the baby. I can't go out and fight like you can, it gets boring just counting the hours until Finn comes back every day. Maybe… would you teach me how?"

Victoria kept her smile turned away from the flame girl as she huffed and rolled her eyes but rooted around under her bed for the spare yarn and some knitting needles.

"You better be a quick study, cause I am not a patient teacher." Phoebe warned her. "Right. Hold the needles like this, and make some loops with the yarn."

…

Jake was walking again, limping and wincing with every step but up and about at least. He'd had a fortifying breakfast of crème puffs and only cried twice that morning at the memory of his son's dying words and the beautiful eulogy his Granddaddy had given at the memorial service. And now he was healing. Jake knew somewhere deep down that a part of his innocent had been killed along with his eldest son, that he was now jaded and hard, scarred forever in the exact same way he'd been so scared of before all this started. At least he knew Lady didn't blame him but that was only a small comfort. He blamed himself. So despite the agony with each deep breath and the way the stitches pulled against the barely closed wounds as he moved, he was out on the balcony running through his stances with his demon blood sword while most of the rest of the palace still slept or were just waking for breakfast. He was slow, out of practice, but he was getting better with his brother's help.

"Again." Jake commanded, and Finn sprang at him with his axe raised. He stretched his upper body out of the way and swept his younger brother's knees out from under him in one move, leaving Finn sprawled on the flagstones coughing and winded.

"Dude, you have to try harder! When the vampires come for you they're not gonna politely ask you to!" Jake barked. "Get up! Come at me, bro!"

"Jake, dude, chill. You're acting weird." Finn replied. He wiped a thin line of blood from where he'd split his lip and tried to ignore the aching in his shoulders from hefting his weapon for so long. How did Mom manage with her axe all the time? But she had demon strength and Finn was relying totally on his mortal muscles. He'd hit the gym with Muscle Princess again today, he decided, bulk up as much as he could. Maybe see if Peps could find him some protein shakes.

"Because this is serious! People are dying, it's a war and I'm _not going to lose you too, Finn!_ Now come on and get serious about this training! COME AT ME!"

With a howl Jake rushed forward at him and Finn snarled, angry that he was being forced onto the defensive. His axe was much heavier that Jake's sword but the Dog had the size advantage and the adrenaline was dulling his pain; he was still raining down blows when the last of his brother's strength gave out and he was forced to his knees.

"Jake, bro, you're scaring me." Finn panted.

Jake whirled away, throwing the sword across the courtyard out of his reach and turning his back on his younger brother. It took a moment for Finn to realise that his shoulders were shaking with silent sobs. Finn struggled to his feet and slid his arms around his brother, instinctively holding on even when Jake tried to shrug him away.

"I sh-should have saved him!" Jake stammered, angry that the tears wouldn't listen to him and just give him a break for a few hours to train. "He was my son and I promised to take care of him and I led him into danger."

"Kim knew the risks. He came along because he wanted to look after you. He wanted to prove to you he was more than just a suit who worried about contracts. When the real test came he was there for you. The way you'd have been for him if it'd been the other way around. He wanted you approval, man. And I think he knew he'd gotten it, at the end." Finn told him softly.

"He's dead because of me." Jake repeated, unwilling to listen to his brother.

"He's dead because he chose to sacrifice himself. To prove a point maybe, or who knows? Perhaps to give you something to fight for. Kim was a planner and a strategist, he must have known that losing him would affect you like this. He was trying to help you be the best crown prince that he could. And with Mama sick and Mom distracted like this, was he really wrong to try to make you into a figurehead? Jake, we need someone to follow right now. Need you to lead us. Do what our mothers can't, raise an army and march on them before they get a chance to do it to us. Cause right now everyone's waiting for Mama to come up with a plan and I don't think she's really got one. Dude, she's… not well. Like, worse than ever."

Jake sucked in a breath to reply but he was cut off by a distant noise. His ears pricked, sensitive hearing focussing in on the rhythmic pounding that was just a small vibration in the air but grew louder with every passing heartbeat.

"What?" Finn asked, confused. But Jake shushed him and a moment later they both heard it. Drums. And feet. Jake took off at a run toward the nearest wall and scooped his brother up in an oversize paw before stretching them both to the top. He was glad he had Finn to steady him because when he stared out over the town and out to the grassland beyond he was greeted by the whole of the Fire Army complete black and red banners with war drums driving the marching soldier on.

"Dude, go get Mom. I don't think they're coming to reinforce us." Jake gasped as his eyes widened in horror.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sometimes you need a distraction, guys. And sometimes writing Full Circle is the only distraction you can think of. So have another chapter.**

 **Prophecies! If you hadn't figured it out yet, this whole story is full of them! If you don't know All Along The Watchtower a) what is wrong with you and b) don't sweat it, it's an old song with cool lyrics that I am using here because MUSIC! The important parts are all explained anyway.**

 **This chapter is heading someplace dark, although maybe not the dark place you're expecting. Bear with me, remember nothing is set in stone until it actually happens. It's also fairly Firefly heavy as the next chapter will be. Because who doesn't want more Firefly? She's my favourite of the adult Foundlingsverse kids.**

 **Content Warning: lyrics, prophecies, reveals, implied threats of child abuse, graphic violence threats, tragic backstory.**

* * *

They'd assembled in the throne room, officially to convene an emergency war council but mostly so that Marceline could keep an eye on the kids and make sure there was no repeat of the reckless heroics that had led to Kim's death. Something was bothering her though, something she couldn't place. More than just having the entire Flame Army camped outside their front door. It felt like some sort of pressure in the air. A thunderstorm brewing, perhaps? But it pulled her attention away from their military advisors and focussed it instead on an unassuming scene by the main doors.

The whole palace was full of refugees and there was very little privacy these days. No surprise that faces she hadn't seen in years were appearing all over the place. There was that odd Tiffany boy who'd been friends with Jake back before he'd been caught shoplifting and put through the Candy Kingdom's juvenile rehabilitation program. And he was talking quietly with the crown prince as Jake and Finn were on their way up to the watchtower to keep an eye on their unwelcome guests. Somewhere above all the rest of the noise and chatter her eldest son's words made their way to her sensitive ears as clearly as if he'd been standing right next to her.

"There must be some kinda way out of here." Jake was saying, shaking his head and frowning in the direction of the Flame Army. It was no secret that until the siege lifted the refugees were essentially trapped within the palace.

 _Said the Joker to the Thief;_ Marceline's brain automatically supplied. It was a coincidence. It must be. She growled quietly to herself and pushed the ancient song lyrics from her mind.

"Your Highness, you can't seriously allow this! We don't even know what their terms are!" Peppermint Butler wailed. She opened her mouth to reply but Phoebe beat her to it.

"Their terms are simple, Peps. They want to talk to me and Daven, alone and separately. That's all. And I'm more than capable of defending myself one-on-one if they try anything. Send for the Flame Envoys."

That last part was directed over his head to the Banana Guards at the end of the hall. They shared a hesitant glance before looking back to Marceline.

"Where's Bonnie?" she just asked, turning to Stefan. The big vampire had arrived alone and tense, claiming his mistress was unavailable. It was worryingly vague and had Marceline all kinds of panicked but instead of rushing to her estranged wife's side she was having to deal with this new crisis alone.

"Her Majesty is... indisposed. She asked me to apologise on her behalf but her research into Matilda's cure is at a critical stage and she can't leave it. She has full faith in your abilities to handle this. Please, Marce. Trust me." he added in an undertone. Trusting Stefan was second nature though, if she couldn't trust him then nothing mattered anymore and she may as well just go and let Garrett stake her, Marceline thought. So she nodded slowly. Bonnie was... indisposed. Whatever that meant. She was on her own.

"Send for the envoys, then. Make sure they know that if one single flame on my daughter's head is harmed in any way I will personally destroy every man, woman, and child in their kingdom so heinously that birds will not sing in their skies for a thousand years. Do you understand?"

The Banana Guards paled and swallowed nervously. As stupid as they were even they knew the Vampire Queen didn't make empty threats where her children's safely was concerned.

"So the message is they can send their envoys and if any harm befalls the princess then the Vampire Queen will commit unspeakable war crimes against the entire fire kingdom. Got it." the slightly braver of the two stammered, before saluting and beating a hasty retreat.

"You don't need to be such a drama queen, Mom." Phoebe scowled.

"I'm not being dramatic, darling. I want you to have a long and happy life so that one day you might have a daughter of your own and understand the fierce love I have for you from the other side. If I have to threaten or even commit a genocide to make sure that happens then I will." Marceline replied calmly. She would, she meant every word of it. If anything happened to her daughter she'd make sure that the fire kingdom became just another history lesson for the rest of Ooo.

There was nothing to do but sit and wait for the envoys to arrive and it made Marceline jumpy. She was already more strung out than she could remember being before, even at the height of the last war. But of course back then she'd had Matilda's amazing Talent to soothe her when she needed it and the conflict had been more violent, less cautious. She had more to lose this time and less to ease her to comfort. The thought of taking any other lover to her bed left her cold and horrified, unconsciously rubbing the silver ring on her left hand that she still refused to take off. Bonnie might not remember her, they might not be legally married anymore. But Marceline had vowed on their wedding day that she would be by her wife's side for all the days of her life, until her final death stole her away. And even then she'd be waiting in the next life. Divorce was just a meaningless legal procedure. It couldn't undo a demon's soul-bond. And now nothing and nobody could soothe her anymore; it must be Bonnie or it wouldn't be anyone.

Finn and Jake charging back into the throne room with a cacophony of mingled yells broke her from her internal monologue and Marceline looked up to them, motioning for the crowds to move aside and let her sons through.

"Mom! We were up along the watchtower and we heard something-"

"Out in the distance, it sounded like a Grimmalk screaming! We think it was-

"Yrran! He's still alive and they've got him captive! Mom, we have to go help him-"

"He helped save my life, he's brave and noble and-

"Phoebe's in love with him!"

The hall fell silent at that announcement and as bad as a corpse was with noticing subtle temperature differences Marceline felt the flare of heat from her daughter at Finn's thoughtless words. She stepped between them quickly, before Firefly could incinerate her little brother's head.

"And when you were up along the watchtower, did anyone come to you? Any women?" she asked, throat going dry.

"Uh… Yeah? Nia and Elliot and Victoria too. We weren't up there long, I guess they missed us." Finn replied with a confused frown. "But why does-"

"Were they barefoot? Finn! It's important. Were they wearing shoes?" Marceline demanded. She must have looked terrifying because he shrank back from her.

"Mom, you're scaring me. I don't know, I didn't look! I guess, Nia was probably barefoot? And her lineage, they never wear shoes. They came to check we were ok. So I don't know! I guess they were barefoot."

 _All along the watchtower princes kept the view. While all the women came and went, barefoot servants too. Outside in the cold distance a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching. And the wind began to howl._

There was that pressure in the air again, that feeling of expectation. Of something about to happen that was a fixed point in the cosmos.

"Two riders are approaching." Marceline announced decisively. "Send them to wait in one of the reception rooms. And send for Elliot, I need to talk to her immediately."

"Mom? What's happening?" Phoebe asked in an undertone as the palace staff scrambled to follow her orders.

"I think an ancient prophecy just came true, one that was written before the Mushroom War that sounds like it was just for me. And I think I know what's going to happen next. They have your Grimmalk in the Ice Kingdom."

…

They showed him into a room full of soft cushions and wooden furniture like they were almost begging him to burn the whole damn palace to the ground. It took a lot of effort to keep his flames contained and controlled. After an unacceptable wait the door finally opened and his breath caught in his throat. She looked different to what he'd expected.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Phoebe demanded, eyes hard as she stared into the face of her biological father for the first time since she'd been an infant.

"Phoebe… you look so much like your mother. So beautiful and bold, you are more blessed by the embers than I could have imagined-"

"Shut up and tell me what you want. Why are you here? After all these years, are you finally going to apologise?"

His face darkened but he supposed it was to be expected that she was wild and insolent. Being raised by a corpse and a piece of sugar would be enough to corrupt even the best flame elemental and Phoebe had never been the best of him. He might have said Daven was, once upon a time. But now his son was a traitor too and would be brought back into line as swiftly and mercilessly as he knew how. Just as soon as he'd secured his wayward daughter.

"What do you remember of our culture, Phoebe?" the Flame King asked instead. She glowered at him and crossed her arms defiantly.

"Enough to know I don't like it. You locked up a _baby_ , for no crime other than being stronger than you! You cast out children who disappoint you, leave them to die unguarded in the grasslands. If Mama hadn't found me-"

"And returned you to my care and built the lamp for you." he interrupted, unable to keep it in. Bubblegum thought she had raised such a good, obedient daughter but how would Phoebe react to discovering her saintly pink adoptive mother had been complicit in her abuse? To his great displeasure the girl laughed in his face.

"You think I didn't know? You think she didn't tell me, explain to me that she was trying to keep me safe? Mama told me she was never going to leave me there for long. If Mom hadn't taken me when she did then Mama was going to find an adoptive family for me. Don't think you can just throw around these stupid accusations and expect that I don't trust my own mother!"

"She lies! Bubblegum had no intention of ever coming back for you, you little idiot! If that undead corpse bitch hadn't interfered you'd still be locked in there and be of some use to me!"

For half a heartbeat his ears rang with the aftereffects of his furious outburst and he stared at his daughter's smug face, almost insensible with rage. She'd developed her adoptive vampire mother's talent for getting under his skin, it seemed.

"Tell me what you really think, why don't you? I guess you're here for more reasons than just to insult my mothers though. Spit it out, I don't have all day."

Her insolence boiled his already flaming blood but he managed to keep his temper, just. He pulled the scroll from his pocket and presented it to her with a smile every bit as smug as hers had been a moment before. Phoebe took it in curious hands and unrolled it. He had the very deep pleasure of watching her face contract first in confusion and then in horrified understanding.

"You are an adult now, Phoebe. And by the customs of our kingdom the contract is binding. It was signed by your legal parents before you were stolen from us and since your adoptive family never sought to expunge it, the contract stands. It has now exceeded the time limit for you to contest it. There are no legal impediments and no avenues of refusal for you, unless you wish to bring the entire flame army down upon your adoptive family? I must say, I almost hope you will refuse. They say human flesh smells like pork when it roasts, our new allies would so love to see something unpleasant happen to your little brother. But if you follow the contract and do your duty then we will dissolve our alliance with these usurper vampires. After all, what would we need them for? I'd already have my daughter back."

"You're _sick_." Phoebe gasped. Her face contorted in fury, her father watched with detached amusement as she tore the contract in into fragments. "You just try it! Mom will _destroy you_!"

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to give you the only copy? Idiot girl. It's almost as though you think I've not been planning this since the moment you slithered into the world, female and disappointing. If you refuse then your younger sister will fulfil the terms just as well after we've finished burning your whole kingdom to ashes. But our dear friend the Flame Lord has waited long enough, I highly doubt he'll have the patience for her to turn eighteen first. And all it would take would be my signature of parental consent on her behalf. Picture it, Phoebe. Your eight year old sister in his chambers as he slides the bridal robes from her shoulders and uncovers her nakedness. Confused, scared, not understanding why it's happening. All because her elder sister broke a betrothal contract and I had no other daughters to offer in her place. Will you be directly responsible for what he'll do to her while consummating their marriage?"

Watching the expressions on her face was a savage joy. He could see the precise moment that she realised she was trapped, that her adoptive mothers could no longer shelter her, that he'd won. Of all the things they said about Princess Phoebe, the general consensus was that she was noble and brave. Lawful. She'd no more allow a child to take her place in a prearranged marital bed than she would allow any harm to befall her adopted family. So he gave her a choice; everything she wanted in return for everything he wanted. Her sisted would remain safe and innocent, her family would be unharmed, he'd even break off his alliance with the Vampire Queen's enemies. All she had to do was allow herself to be claimed in marriage. To secure the Flame Lord's assistance in the murder of his older brother and his own ascension to the red throne he'd had to offer his firstborn daughter as a bride before she was even conceived. It had always been his plan to come and claim her one day and it was a glorious feeling to watch the false reality she'd carefully built around herself come crashing down. There was no escape from the fire kingdom. There never had been.

…

"Phoebe, no!"

"I'm an adult, Mom. I can do what I like. And this contract is legally binding, I have no choice. Besides, we'll still be allowed to see each other. Apparently my future husband is a kindly man."

Grod, the words stuck in her throat and she had to force them out around her horror, keep the agony from showing on her face. Because of all the things she couldn't do breaking down and begging her mother to keep her safe was top of the list. Marceline had shielded her for years, kept the cruel and savage nature of reality away from her until she was old enough to take care of herself. And now she was eighteen, she'd been publically acknowledged as an adult by her adoptive parents in a lavish coming-of-age ball. She could do what she wanted, marry whoever she chose for whatever reason. Marceline knew it. It didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Your Mama-"

"Isn't here. She's sick, Mom. And I'm glad she doesn't have to see me go, it'd only hurt her. When you tell her how this went down say that I accepted his proposal gracefully. That I was excited about going back to my birth kingdom and reconnecting with my culture. What the hell, you can tell her I even giggled and said how handsome the Flame Lord is. I know things are weird between you two right now but I have faith you'll work it out in the end. Find and kill Garrett and give Mama her memories back and please don't forget my invite to your re-wedding. But I have to go. I love you, Mom."

"Phoebe-"

Marceline watched in numb horror as her only daughter stepped away from her and smiled sadly before turning and following the Fire King, her new fiancé, and her biological brother. The last sight Phoebe had of her adoptive mother was her gaunt face, too shocked to cry, eyes wide and jaw slack in disbelief. It was barely even a surprise when Elliot hovered over and joined her. The Flame King glared at the vampire but she just shrugged back at him. Of all the vampire bodyguards Elliot was the least respectful of authority and Phoebe was weirdly glad the androgynous woman was accompanying her.

"I go where she goes until the wedding ceremony is complete. I'm her guardian, until she's handed over to a husband I'm responsible for her safety." Elliot announced when the flame elementals continued to stare at her. "I'm not risking an ambush on the road. Phoebe goes with me or not at all."

"You'll leave our kingdom the moment her vows are spoken." the Flame King growled in reply, but he hadn't said she couldn't come along until then so Elliot just stuck her tongue out at his back when he turned away and casually flipped him off.

"FIREFLY! WAIT!"

The voice stopped them in the courtyard and she turned with a sigh. Finn was hurtling towards her across the flagstones.

"Finn, I have to go. I'm sorry." she told him.

"I know. I just... here. We wanted you to have this. Me and Victoria, I mean. It's from both of us, you know? Something to remember us by. Victoria especially. And her Dad. I mean… You know? I-"

"I'll make sure she knows, Finn." Elliot cut in. She reached out and plucked the replica axe from his hands before turning and formally offering it to Phoebe. The Flame King snorted again behind her, grasslands weapons weren't built to withstand the temperatures of a military trained fire elemental and he didn't need to fear assassination by it, he could turn most blades to molten slag before they came anywhere close to him if he needed.

"You're giving me your axe?" Phoebe asked in surprise. Finn nodded hurriedly, staring hard at Elliot over his sister's head. She realised he must be trying to tell the vampire something through her Talent and simply nodded to show she accepted the gift. Something was different about the axe though, the head was bound in thick leather covers.

"To protect the silver plating from the heat." Finn told her when he saw the expression on his sister's face. She nodded slowly and let herself be pulled into a hug.

"I love you, Finn." Phoebe muttered against his ear as she clung to her brother's arms.

"I know, I love you too. And I trust you. I know you have a plan." he whispered back. "Remember. The axe is from Victoria, too."

At a huff of annoyance from the Flame King they broke apart and Phoebe reluctantly followed them out of the safety of the only home she remembered and into the flame army's encampment.

…

Elliot had always wondered how fire people bathed. Did they just passively burn up any crap that accumulated on their skin? It wasn't like they got sweaty or had body odour to worry about, did they even need to bathe? The answer was yes, in the sacred fire. A lesser woman would have looked away at the sight of a dozen naked flame girls rubbing glowing hot ashes into Phoebe's skin. Elliot was proud that she wasn't a lesser woman. She'd only been allowed at the sacred cleansing of the bride ritual by merit of being technically dead. Nobody was completely sure a corpse was breaking sacred law, because no living eyes could gaze upon the bride in her naked and pure state unless they also cleansed themselves in the sacred flames. Obviously the groom was allowed to gaze all he wanted once the ceremony was complete but Grod forbid anyone else look at his curvy, delicious young bride before he had a chance to put his undeserving hands all over her. Well, she was looking _right now_ and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

"Elliot, quit leering at me. You're freaking me out." Phoebe told her with a frown.

So reluctantly the androgynous vampire looked away. She was soon bored and entertained herself by sliding the axe out of its leather casing and admiring it in the glow of the fire. Victoria, there was a girl who was going places. Finn had somehow stumbled across her before anyone knew what she was and that alone had to make him the luckiest fucker Elliot had ever met. She admired the exquisite hammer work on the silver plating, a perfect replica of Marceline's axe in every. Even her unnatural vampire eyesight could detect no differences. It was simply beautiful.

Many years before her bite, before she'd realised how fucked up she was and that for girls like her there was no future, Elliot had been a bright and able student. Middle school was a distant dream from another life but she still remembered that her favourite subject had been chemistry. And she knew about activation energy, she knew about endothermic reactions. It was why she'd taken the axe out of Phoebe's hands the moment she'd heard the words Finn was screaming at her from inside his head. If the fire kingdom wanted to live like they were in the middle ages then they'd die like it too, with an axe forged by modern science to hack the lesson into their stupid skulls. Victoria had been reading her mother-in-law's library, that much was obvious.

"So. I'm cleansed." Phoebe's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The fire girl was wrapped only in one of those weird finely woven wire cloaks that the other flame elementals wore and beneath her flickering blue shield she looked embarrassed. "I'm supposed to spend the night sitting in solitary communion with the sacred flame. Uh, but you don't count since you're already dead. So, uh, wanna sit up and talk with me?"

The other fire elementals had disappeared and left them alone on the edge of the fire kingdom's territory beneath a dull, starless sky. If nature had had any sense of drama it would have been a dazzling blanket of stars, maybe a meteor shower or even a spectacular storm. But no, the sky was stubbornly blank, a matte black cloudscape that was bruised by the reflection of innumerable smaller fires within the kingdom. It felt wrong, uncomfortable, to sit by the fire with the flame girl clothed only in a flimsy cloak. It was too intimate, it made ancient fear itch across Elliot's skin. But she sat nonetheless and swallowed down her discomfort.

"So. Big day tomorrow." she started awkwardly.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to sit here and meditate all night by the fire, preparing my body to receive the sacred spark of my husband's offering. I don't much wanna think about what that's a euphemism for. Can we talk about something else? I just need something to distract me. Elliot? Nia said all vampires have a sad and dark past, before they were bitten. What happened to you?"

She sighed and took a breath by habit, thinking back to those flickering memories from before she'd died.

"Do you know what a whore is, Firefly? My mother was a whore. A drug whore, to be specific, but she'd probably have done it anyway even if she wasn't a junkie. I was born addicted and they took me away from her. I didn't see her again until I was four. She got herself clean, asked for me back. And for a while it was good. I had what passed for a normal life. And then… There was this disease. We heard whispers about it, horror stories. They called it a plague, God's judgement. It mostly struck down people society thought were unclean. Gays, drug addicts, whores. My Mom. She was back on the drugs by then anyway because an endless parade of new boyfriends had wanted one last hit for old time's sakes pretty much every weekend. I'll never forget the day we found out. He was called Scott, he'd been fucking her and sharing needles with her on and off for a while. He sucked dick too if that was all he could do to get his fix, no idea if he caught it from the drugs or the fags. Anyway. Scott died and Mom freaked out and finally got her stupid ass tested. They called it AIDS but nobody was giving us any aid, not for a junkie whore and her fucked up kid. She got sicker and sicker. I… did what I could to put food on the table, get her the drugs that were the only thing that eased her pain. That's probably how I ended up infected, too. I was fifteen when she died in my arms. I ended up homeless, doing what I'd seen my Mom do. Drugs, sex, partying. I dunno, I think even then I knew I was dying. I ended up watching my friends die too. In ones and twos at first but then more and more. They came to me because they knew I was the least sick of us all, we'd squat in abandoned buildings while I nursed them and when we moved on we'd leave a body or two behind. At the worst of it we had to pile them up. My chosen family, my friends, the only people I had left in the world. And then when I was too sick to go with them any more I made them go ahead without me. And that's where Peter found me. My Sire. Maybe he thought he was helping me, maybe he just took a perverse delight in sucking the life out of a girl who only had days left. But he sat with me through my Turning and told me all about vampire society. As soon as I was properly undead I found my friends and shared the gift he'd given me. Eternal life? I thought I was saving them. Peter killed every single one of them barehanded before they could Turn and I stood powerless to stop him, his cringing new lineage who didn't understand that she'd broken taboo, knowing I'd killed the only people left in the world that I cared about. That's when I discovered the red drinking."

"That was you?" Phoebe asked quietly when the silence stretched. She didn't want to interrupt, the world of humans before the Mushroom War was distant and confusing. It took most of her effort just to keep up with the story and she had no headspace left to ask unnecessary questions.

"I did. It was… an experiment. I was trying to suck the disease right out of my friends' blood. And instead I sucked the red out. I refined the technique, used it as a party trick or a quick fix if there wasn't anyone around to drink from. It was only years later when I met your Mom and showed her that she had the bright idea to completely replace blood drinking with red drinking. Johnson keeps telling me that I brought the Famine that caused the war. It's not an easy skill to learn and it takes commitment, especially at first. You can't just rock up as a brand new baby vamp and suck the colour out of an apple the way your Mom does. It's difficult, painful. For some people it was more than they could adapt to."

"And that started the war. Is that when Peter died?"

"Ha! No, Peter was directly underneath one of the nukes, he got incinerated. Do you wanna know what it feels like when your Sire dies? It's like… I didn't notice the world was blown apart, that's how badly it hurt. And when I finally managed to drag myself out of the rubble my whole world had gone, because he had gone. That's what the bond between Sire and lineage is like. That's why so many of us go crazy when we lose our Sire."

"You were so brave." Phoebe mumbled. Elliot wondered when the girl had laid her head trustingly against her arm, when she'd reached out and half reclined in the air to let her companion rest tiredly against her.

"You're exhausted, you should sleep." she said quietly, shaking loose the last strands of ancient memory and focussing on the present where a whole new type of desperate runaway needed her.

"Mm, can't. Gotta meditate." Phoebe replied around a yawn.

"Rest. Just for like, a little bit."

"Fine, if you insist. Promise you'll wake me in fifteen minutes though."

"Promise."

She watched the clouds boil across the sky by the light of the kingdom's many fires while Phoebe curled trustingly against her the whole night, sound asleep and more peaceful in dreams than she could ever hope to be awake. And Elliot thought she might understand then why Marceline had insisted she be the guardian of her daughter. Firefly brought out her protective side, her asshole side too but that was because she was weird and awkward and her queen knew it. She had one last night of guardianship before having to present her ward to the Flame Lord in the morning and it was the first time since before her mother died that Elliot wished she could make the night stretch on forever, save the sleeping woman in her arms from the horrors that morning would bring.


	19. Chapter 19

**I hope you're all geared up for an almost 100% Firefly chapter. This is a double length one because I wanted to get her story arc all in one go and it didn't feel right to split it. Honestly? I'm a little anxious about this part of the story, is was a last minute addition that I thought would give Phoebe a little more screen time and help explain how a couple of things came about. It does mean of course that the story will be longer than I'd originally planned. How many chapters do I have left? I have no idea. Five? Seven? Ten? I know what happens in perfect detail, I just have no idea what the word count for writing it would be.**

 **So like I said, this is a somewhat anxiety inducing chapter for me. I'd appreciate it if you could take the time to drop me a couple of words in review at the end to let me know what you think.**

 **Personal news! I got the results of my MRI and basically my spine is fucked. One of my vertebrae is tilted and the disc is dangling out at an angle. After four different doctors told me I'm too young to have chronic back pain I feel vindicated, it's a good feeling. Or it could be the hella strong painkillers they have me on, who knows? But I will be getting spinal surgery in the near future and I won't have much to do except write for about two months after. Silver lining ^^**

 **Content Warning: Oh hell where do I start? Intention of sexual assault, graphic character death, injury, reveals, feels, a twist.**

* * *

There was rarely strong sunshine in the outskirts of Fire Kingdom, the air was too thick with smoke from the constantly burning landscape. Most of the main city was underground to shield its residents from the lethal rain anyway. Elliot supposed she should be grateful for small mercies. It was torturous to watch them lead Phoebe away with her eyes completely blank and emotionless in the wan haze of a grey dawn. Even the girl's thoughts were muted, held close to herself like she was scared to think too loudly and have the vampire read the fear from her mind. But she couldn't completely repress the stab of horror when she opened her eyes onto her father's face and realised her time was up. He had Enya in tow just in case his eldest daughter had forgotten the terrible price he was willing to pay for her obedience if she tried to break the betrothal. The little girl grinned around and chattered excitedly; a quick scan of her thoughts revealed that she had no idea that Phoebe was sacrificing herself to save her. Elliot approved, vaguely. As terrible a father as the Flame King was at least his youngest daughter seemed to have her innocence mostly intact for now.

"Are you my sister's vampire Mommy?" she asked with wide eyes when she noticed Elliot hovering in the shadows.

"No. Just her friend." the she replied. The minds of children bored her, too simplistic and naive. Nevertheless they always caused an undercurrent of swiftly repressed envy to run through her too. Elliot had never been innocent, even when she'd been younger than Enya was.

It should have taken most of the day to dress a bride for her wedding, especially a royal bride. But the Fire King wasn't taking any chances; he anointed her with the sacred oils himself and muttered the ritual words in a rush before barking at her to get dressed in the glittering silver-alloy wire dress. There would be no intricate ash patterns painstakingly painted onto the skin of this bride; the ceremony would be all haste with only the barest bones of tradition. It should have taken place over three days of national festivities but for fear of interruption the king had stripped it down to its purest form, just the exchange of vows before the sacred flames.

The dress was magnificent, though. Delicate lace made from the finest woven wire of high status silver-alloy, it flowed from her shoulders like a glittering waterfall and clung to Phoebe's curves suggestively before flaring out into a long train studded with pearls. They were the most expensive gem in the entire kingdom since they were exclusively traded with foreign lands, no fire elemental would risk going near the deadly water of the ocean to harvest them. As she laced the princess into her spectacular dress Elliot wondered if she'd ever looked so beautiful, or so dejected. The finishing touch was a delicate crown of glowing flame flowers in her hair before they were led away in procession through one of the many cave entrances into the city proper. As the wedding party made their way through the smoky streets the thoughts of the fire citizens jostling for the first glimpse of their mysterious new princess washed unstoppably across Elliot's mind.

 _There she is! The lost princess!_

 _Why is she wearing a flame shield? Who's the cold skin with her?_

 _She's so beautiful! Such a shame that she'll end up wedded to that psychopath. I wish I could travel the different kingdoms, like she has._

 _Raised in a foreign land by cold skins. Poor girl doesn't even have the ash patterns to honour a new bride. I wonder if they warned her what to expect in the marital bed chamber? At least she's home now._

She pushed them out of her mind with a small snarl. Idiots, they had no idea how Phoebe had lived before all of this had happened. She loved her parents and brothers, loved the soaring towers of the candy palace and the cool breeze blowing from the ice mountains to the north. The air in the Fire Kingdom was alien to her, full of choking smoke and unfamiliar burned scents. As hard as she tried to shut off her telepathy completely Elliot could hear her princess' thoughts as a troubled undercurrent beneath her calm exterior as she followed her birth father with her head held high.

 _Yrran is still alive. Enya is in danger. The axe is from Victoria too. Stick to the plan. You can do this, you can save them all. Make your mothers proud, Firefly._

Chanting swelled from inside as they ascended the blackened pumice stairs leading up into the flame palace. It was like nothing Elliot had ever heard before, melodic but oddly angular. There were no words; the music flowed as a series of guttural wails that followed a complex pattern of drum beats and gongs. As they entered the grand hall of the palace the noise was revealed to be coming from enormous war drums, each twice the height of a man and made from the stretched hide of one of the massive fire bison that roamed the kingdom's wild places. The gongs were huge brass rounds that glittered in the glow of the sacred fire that was banked at the top of the aisle. Every surface was branded with the twisting design of the Fire King's coat of arms and a huge polished bronze plate that stretched from floor to ceiling bore the banner of the kingdom in hammered relief, gleaming and flickering in the sacred firelight. Phoebe wrinkled her nose and Elliot felt her disgust at how cloyingly sweet the air was; lanterns far overhead belched thick wreaths of incense that mingled with the smoke of the fires and turned the air a sickly blue. Through the haze it was hard to make out the individual faces of the hundreds of guests who'd gathered to watch.

"Who speaks for the bride?" the elderly priest conducting the ceremony asked as they approached the sacred fire and waiting groom.

"I do, as her natural father and king." the Flame King replied loudly. The drumming and wailing chant stopped, the hall was silent for a moment save for the fizz and crackle of the sacred flames.

"Take that ridiculous shield off." the Flame Lord hissed at Phoebe the moment she was in earshot.

"You will command me only when our marriage is complete, _husband_." she snarled back. He obviously hadn't expected her to disobey and his face wore an expression like thunder but the ceremony was beginning and he wasn't supposed to speak until prompted by the priest or the marriage would be invalid. Phoebe smirked at him and he bared his teeth in silent anger. The priest glared at them both pointedly before lifting his hands to the watching crowd and beginning.

"The sun, the stars, the core of the earth. Fire is within us and around us, fire is life. And as the sacred spark inhabits all of our bodies so too has the flame of eternal love kindled in the hearts of these two souls who are now to be joined in-"

"Get to the vows, you imbecile." the Flame King growled, and the priest shrank back from him. Elliot could feel the old man's hatred and fear of his king warring with his religious conviction that the wedding should be conducted properly and she felt the moment he decided to just give up. What business was it of his if the couple were not truly joined in the flames and their offspring were bastards?

"By the fire of all things, do you swear to love this woman and be bound to her as husband until your spark is extinguished?" he asked the Flame Lord instead, skipping to the very end of what should have been a two-hour ceremony.

"I do." he replied calmly.

"And by the fire of all things, do you swear on behalf of this woman that she will love this man and be bound to him as wife until her spark is extinguished?" the priest asked, turning to the Flame King. Elliot felt Phoebe's anger at not even being permitted to speak in her own wedding, but she also saw the princess glance to her side where her innocent young sister was gazing up at her with pure adoration. As much as it made her seethe Phoebe would hold her tongue for her sister's sake.

"I do." the Flame King replied.

"Then let this marriage be forged in flame. Bride and groom, you will pass through the sacred flames to the chamber beyond. You will join your spark together and leave as man and wife. Spark to spark, love to love."

The crowd cheered as the Flame Lord took his new wife's hand and marched her forward into the sacred flames before turning to look back at their guests for a moment. Phoebe locked eyes with Elliot and a single thought flared across the vampire's telepathy, cold and empty, stripped of any traitorous emotion or fear.

 _Wish me luck._

Elliot nodded almost imperceptibly and when the eyes of the crowd were all on the newlyweds she let her invisibility slide over her, hiding her from view as she hovered forward to follow them through the sacred fire.

...

He dragged her through the flames and into the chamber beyond as the cheers of the guests mingled with the renewed drumming. Phoebe very nearly lost her temper then, it was almost more than she could take after the events of the day. All she could think was that she had a plan, she had to be brave, had to keep her cool.

"Undress." he ordered the moment they were alone in the small antechamber. "Let us join, spark to spark."

She stared at him, impassive, and reached to the clasp holding her thin wire dress closed at the neck. It slid away and slipped down her body, leaving her nude and more vulnerable than she could ever remember being in her life. But she didn't shiver as his predatory gaze raked the curves of her figure. She was a warrior princess, daughter of the two most badass women to ever wear a crown. Nothing and nobody could make her forget it.

"Your father owed me a debt. And very soon it shall be paid in full. Take the flame shield off, wife." he commanded. Again, she flicked her fingers and murmured the trigger word and the shield fell. Her flames became the golden orange of her birth and the extra heat from her skin flooded the room, making him inhale deeply.

"So powerful. And all mine. You were a prize worth waiting for." the Flame Lord murmured. He came forward and laid a hand reverently against her bare chest stroking her skin possessively. This time Phoebe did shiver, she couldn't keep back from it. "You're scared, I understand. But I know what I'm doing, I'm not going to hurt you more than necessary. You're not the only maiden whose flames I've kindled for the first time."

"Then you should be as good as your word, and undress." Phoebe murmured demurely as he took hold of her chin and tilted her up for a possessive kiss.

"You have quite a spirit, thinking you can order around your lord and husband, my lady. But you don't know our customs. It's traditional for the groom to grant his bride her heart's desire on their wedding day. What do you desire, dear heart?" he whispered against her blazing lips. Phoebe pulled back and stared up into his eyes, letting her expression fill with hope and innocence. _Please Grod let me have judged him right._

"Let me keep this trinket from my mothers? I've never taken it off since I was a baby and I miss them so much. It's so dark here, I just… I want something to remember my family. It's important that I never take it off." she told him, indicating the slender gold chain still hanging around her neck that bore the royal gem her Mama had given her. The Flame Lord's face darkened in anger and Phoebe's heart jumped into her throat, full of anxious anticipation.

"Your _mothers_? Idiot child! I knew you were too willing, too docile. Is this a trick? Are you communicating with them through your magic gem? No! To hell with tradition, to hell with not hurting you! I have waited _years!_ I will take you for my wife and there's nothing anybody can do to stop me!"

Perhaps he wondered why she grinned savagely as his hand closed around the thin chain. But the momentum of his grab was too strong and it broke easily in his hand and she stumbled backwards onto the huge bed that had been made up for the newlyweds. The chain came loose from around her neck for the first time since before her mothers were married and Phoebe felt the unstoppable tide of pure power surge from the depths of her being. As the greatest fire sorcerer Ooo had ever known fell back in shock his young bride laughed hollowly, raising herself up from the bed to tower above him in triumph. Her flames boiled through the air, filling the room as he shrank back from the incredible heat that unfolded endlessly from her.

"You _forgot_ the prophecy? You forgot the lamp and why I was in there? I'm stronger than you! I'm stronger than all of you! And you just removed the only dam holding my true power back! Did you think Queen Bubblegum would let a child that could burn the whole world down run around her personal library with nothing but a flimsy flame shield to protect our kingdom? Even the day I almost drowned, nobody dared removed the gem for fear of how brightly I'd burn. Daven told me once that I am a weapon better than any sword. Maybe he was right. Do you want to find out, _husband_?"

"I- I- forgive me, I-"

"You would have raped me if I'd refused. You would have raped my eight year old sister on the orders of my father if I hadn't come in her place today. You're _filth_. Give me one single reason why I should spare you?" Phoebe snarled, staring down through slits in her swirling flames. The rock of the walls was beginning to melt from the immense heat, she was hotter than she could ever remember being, all the anger she'd banked so carefully in her internal flames had exploded out of her and was raging beyond her control.

"Your father, he promised- I- mercy! I have wronged you, but I am still your husband!" he pleaded, raising his arms to cover his face and cringing away from her in terror.

"My husband? Did I consent to marry you? Did anyone even ask me? No. Not now, not ever. By your own laws the marriage isn't binding until it's consummated. The oceans will freeze and the sun will explode before I ever allow you to kindle my maiden's flame. You're not worthy to breathe the same air as me."

His face was turned from her and eyes screwed tightly shut but he could still see the awful glow of her unnatural fire through his eyelids. But when the room was suddenly plunged into darkness he looked around in confusion, thinking for a split second that she had left. What he saw instead made his flaming blood run cold.

Phoebe was standing above him, nothing more than an outline of the blackest black he had ever seen. No heat or light escaped her, to his temperature sensitive eyes she was colder than pure ice.

"Have you ever studied physics? Do you know what a black hole is?" the figure asked him. He shook his head, beyond terrified. "We are made from star stuff, you and I. We all carry a spark of the eternal flame, yes? That flame is what the centre of the sun and stars are made from. You and I and all of our kin are just tiny sentient stars with no idea of their power. Do you know what happens when a star becomes so dense that even light can't escape its gravity? That's called a black hole. Daven taught me to reach down to my eternal flame. And my flame is the most powerful in living memory. I wondered, what would happen if I compressed it instead of pulling it outwards from myself? What happens when the centre of a star gets squeezed tightly enough? And what do you think would happen to a flame elemental that became trapped in the gravity of a black hole, Flame Lord? Do you think he'd survive for long? We're going to do a science experiment."

He whimpered in terror and incomprehension as the black silhouette moved closer, scrabbled backwards until his shoulders hit the molten stone of the walls. But there was nowhere left to hide, no escape from his crimes. His lady had judged him and found him wanting. As he felt the incredible pull of her temporary gravity take hold and tug him irresistibly towards her he knew death was waiting for him and this time there was no escape. He'd backed the wrong side. The only small consolation was knowing that the same fate was coming to the Flame King too, and the disgusting undead cold skins they'd allied with. Phoebe was the prophesized one; she would lead the Fire Kingdom to greatness. Her armies would sweep across Ooo and obliterate everything in their path. He had been unworthy to be her husband. And then the pressure increased beyond what his body could withstand and the Flame Lord died in the arms of his young bride.

Phoebe felt the moment the life left his body beyond the roar of unstoppable power in her head. He had disintegrated and his life essence was consumed by her energy. With a shaky breath she released the iron grip on the spark of eternal flame at her centre, letting it once again expand to the density of a young, bright star. It didn't feel the same. It was fuller but somehow less bright than before. Creating the black hole had aged her, Phoebe realised. Perhaps she didn't look any older on the outside but it had caused a change in her internal composition despite the extra energy she'd absorbed from the Flame Lord. One day she'd get her Mama to study it, find out how deep the damage went. But for now she had a king to overthrow. She replaced the flame shield with a murmur before collecting the broken gem chain from the floor and knotting it clumsily around her neck. Next was the dress; she wasn't about to repeat her Mom's mistake of battling an army naked.

"Do you know how hard it was to just hover there and not interfere?" a voice addressed her from the ceiling.

"I had every faith you would have taken care of it if I'd failed." Phoebe replied tiredly.

Elliot faded back into view and offered her a wan smile before holding out her weapon.

"You kicked butt, Firefly. Your mothers would be so proud. Now, I believe this axe belongs to you?"

Phoebe took it, turning it over in her hands carefully so that she never brought the blade too close to the heat sill radiating from her body.

"Let's hope the baby gets Victoria's brains." she finally murmured, staring at the gleaming axe head. "There's no way Finn came up with this on his own."

"She's wearing the trousers in their relationship, for sure." Elliot agreed. "You wanna rest before we go start Phase Two?"

"No." Phoebe replied, shaking her head. "Let's just get this over with. I want to go home."

…

Two figures appeared in the sacred flames once again and for a moment the crowds began to cheer. Their princess was back and now legally bound in marriage to one of her father's closest advisers, the whole kingdom would celebrate for days. But as the flames parted the cheering gave way to confused murmuring. The outlines looked wrong. Then the couple stepped out into the main hall and the cheers gave way to screams. Their princess was arm in arm with her vampire bodyguard and she'd unsheathed her axe. The flame shield fell away from her once again and to their heat-sensitive eyes she glowed almost white, in sharp contrast to the deadly weapon she grasped. The flames of her hands caused a brief flare of white light to run through the axe blades before the heat and colour seeped out of them and they shimmered a lethal, freezing black.

"Her axe is enchanted with ice! STOP HER!" the Flame King screamed, and his guards rushed forward as the guests stampeded to the exits in terror.

"Hold! Remember who commands you!"

A new voice rang out in the echoing chamber and drew every eye that wasn't fleeing in terror. Phoebe hadn't even raised her axe in self-defence before her father and his guardsman whirled to the figure. It was Daven, like Phoebe had hoped. She put a shaking hand on Elliot's arm to keep the other woman from sweeping forward and attacking; this was a confrontation that needed to happen.

"Speak my full royal title, father." Daven commanded him, eyes hard and proud.

"What is this-"

"Speak it!"

"I will not be ordered around by a traitor boy who-"

"His Royal Highness Crown Prince Daven, Knight-Exultant of the Incandescent Blade, Duke of the Glowing Isles and _Lord High Commander of the King's Own Blazeguard_. You gave me the command of your bodyguards when I graduated military training. They obey my orders. And I order you, stand down!"

He directed the last part to the confused knights now wavering halfway between Phoebe and the Flame King. Most of them looked between their new princess and their Lord High Commander, down at the king almost universally hated, and stood aside. Of course there would always be a couple of fanatics though; Phoebe had just enough time to raise her axe before three of the Blazeguard turned back to her with their flaming swords drawn. She brought the axe down with a fleshy crunch against the shoulder of the first one to reach her and the way he screamed was like nothing she'd ever heard before. If it hadn't been for Elliot against her back Phoebe might have sank to the floor with her mixture of exhaustion and horror.

No sound had ever made her blood freeze like that scream. It was raw agony, it still haunted her nightmares decades later. The knight's entire body seized and jerked violently when the axe parted his flesh like it was as insubstantial as mist. He fell back a moment later as the enchanted ice raced across his skin, leaving him nothing more than a blackened dead husk with his flames extinguished. And when the frozen body slammed down to meet the wide flagstones of the floor it shattered into a million glittering shards, there was nothing to even suggest the chunks of black ice had ever been a person. Phoebe couldn't drag her eyes away from the sight but Elliot had no problem with immediately rounding on the other two knights. Caught between the vampire and their former Blazeguard comrades one died on the flaming blades of the knights loyal to Daven and the other had his head ripped from his neck by undead hands. The burns on her skin barely even bothered Elliot, she could heal them easily enough and she had a showdown between father and son to watch.

"You have abused your power and this kingdom for too long." Daven was snarling as he circled his father with his sword drawn. The Flame King had his own weapon in hand and his eyes were trained on his son's face.

"I taught you everything you know, boy!" he growled. "I trained you myself! Never once have you beaten me in the sparring ring! Try it. I murdered my own brother, what makes you think I'd spare a disappointing son?"

Daven lunged forward and the Flame King brought up his sword, effortlessly parrying the blow and following it with a vicious slash as his son stumbled past him off balance.

"Stay back! It's between me and him!" Daven panted before his knights could rush to his defence. His father laughed and rained blow after blow onto the prince.

"Just you and me! You'll die like a man at least. How many times did I tell you never to overextend your thrust?"

"I'll kill you!" Daven snarled between blows. With a cry he shoved himself out of the way and managed to roll backwards onto one knee. His ceremonial armour was dented and scorched and there was a long slash down his cheek that spilled glowing white-hot blood. The air fizzed with the heat of their fury and he flung himself back upright to charge forward again against his father's blade. Metal rang on flaming metal with renewed force and for a moment it looked as though Daven had the upper hand; he forced the Flame King back with every blow and with a final crushing stroke his opponent fell to his knees. Daven glared down at him, holding the tip of his sword against his father's exposed throat.

"For the crimes you have committed against your own people, I-"

But the words never made it all the way out of his mouth. The Flame King flung himself backwards away from the swords tip and kicked out his legs, knocking the princes' knees from under him and sending him clattering to the floor. In an instant the Flame King had his own sword raised and all Daven could do was throw his arms to his face in a futile attempt to defend himself.

"I brought you into this world, boy. And now I'll- _hggr- ghhu-_ "

His fire flickered and guttered, eyes rolled upwards to meet the thin line of glowing white blood running down his forehead from the racing lines of magical ice that were spreading across his brow. The Flame King fell as a black husk and shattered against the stone of his own grand hall, freeing the enchanted ice axe that Phoebe had lodged in his skull.

"Couldn't let him kill you." she panted to Daven. Her eyes were still wide and horrified at the sight of their father's body shattered and melting on the floor. Next second the axe clattered uselessly from her slack hands and Elliot blurred forward to catch her as she crumpled forwards in a faint.

…

By sundown Firefly was awake and strong enough to attend her brother. She'd conveniently slept through all the pronouncements of the old king's death and the hurried crowning of the new King Daven. Now she was kneeling before his new throne, still shaken and weak from her episode as a temporary black hole but determined. Phase Two was finished. She'd protected her sister, saved the fire kingdom and removed a tyrant from his throne. All she needed now was to rescue Yrran and ride back home in glory, then she'd allow herself to rest.

"For services to the kingdom, I award you the title of Honorary Blade Of The King's Own Blazeguards." Daven told her with a smile. He hung a medal from her neck and offered his hand, pulling her up into an embrace and whispering into her ear. "You saved my life, sister. The prophecy was right, you are stronger than all of us. I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"Blame my brothers, they made me take a hero's oath." she replied with a grin. Daven grinned back for a moment before he let his features fall back into regal gravity.

"And now to attend to your punishment. Hold, don't interrupt the king." he told her when she opened her mouth to argue. "You murdered a royal Blazeguard and the king himself, your own estranged father, right here in his palace in front of a room full of witnesses. Nobody would argue that such an act was a crime and needs to be punished. The usual price for murder is execution."

"But, I-"

"Hold! Let me finish. The _usual_ price for murder is execution, but in this case there are mitigating circumstances. You were crippled by grief for your dear sweet husband, am I right?"

Phoebe gaped at her brother who spared her the barest wink. And then she saw what he was doing and had to repress a smirk.

"Yeah, that's right. Such a shame there were no witnesses to see him remove my flame shield and be crushed by the power I didn't know how to control. So tragic to be widowed so young, and on my wedding day!" Phoebe agreed. She added a theatrical sigh and Daven rolled his eyes, unable to keep his own grin from creeping onto his face.

"So, in view of your tragic loss and the obvious grief that was warping your mind at the time, I hereby exile you. To the candy kingdom. You may only return to our kingdom with my royal invitation, or if you happen to be in the vicinity and want to drop by. Do you understand the severity of this punishment?" Daven asked. He was obviously trying hard to look stern but it took all of his self control to keep from bursting out into laughter.

"Totally. No coming back for any old reason, just if you send for me or I want to hang out." Phoebe nodded.

"Exactly. And now you are exiled, off you go. Give my warmest regards to your mothers."

Nobody had ever been exiled with a parade through the streets before but Phoebe was still too exhausted to take it in as they made their way out of the city. She let Garm do the walking, Elliot floating along at her side, and ignored the crowds of flame folk calling her name and throwing fire flowers to her. Several times she almost slipped from the back of the wolf only for Elliot to catch her.

As darkness fell they stopped at the edge of the grasslands and Firefly dropped gratefully to the ground.

"I... can't go on. Not tonight. I'm too tired, I gotta sleep." she mumbled, ashamed.

"You've been through a lot, it's ok. Lemme just find some wood and I'll build us a fire." Elliot replied softly. Phoebe spared her an amused quirk of the lips before turning to her massive wolf.

"Garm, blaze!" she commanded, and a moment later the huge fire wolf was burning much more brightly than usual.

"Well now I feel like a dumbass." Elliot mumbled. "What about a bed, though? I've got a guardianship to fulfil, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor."

"I'll just curl up in Garm's flames, it's really comfy. You think this is the first time I've slept outdoors on top of my fire wolf?"

"I guess not. Good thing I've got this badass cloak to hide under, first light would be a bitch otherwise and I guess that's when you're planning on heading to the Ice Kingdom and fucking shit up?"

"Why are you even asking? You could just read it out of my thoughts."

Suddenly the vampire was very interested in examining the springy green grass she was hovering over, anything at all to avoid the princess' eyes.

"Elliot? Why didn't you read my mind?" Phoebe prompted curiously.

"I dunno. Because."

"Because is a connective word, not a justification. Why?"

"Cause you don't like it. Cause I saw it in your thoughts, you think it's a violation when I do it without asking permission. And I don't want you to feel violated by me, Firefly." she finally replied, voice soft and lacking any of her usual bravado.

Phoebe was staring at her from where she was reclined against the great wolf's side and it almost felt to Elliot like their roles were reversed, like the girl was examining the content of her thoughts instead. It was a familiar and unwelcome feeling, that same insecurity about people and her place amongst them that had lead the androgynous vampire to develop her Talent in the first place. The deepest desire of her soul had been to never place her trust in the wrong person again, not after her Sire had made her watch him murder the people she'd tried to save. But Firefly... she couldn't just dip into the girl's mind like she did with other people for a number of reasons. Because her princess didn't like it, and Elliot found it increasingly difficult to do anything against her wishes. And because it caused a jolt of feeling to churn her stomach every time she did step into the princess' mind for a moment and found it full of worry and warmth for her missing cat demon. Elliot was glad that the inside of her mind would always stay exclusively her own as she pushed those thoughts away from herself. No other mind reader would be able to get into her head, nobody else would know that there might be a spark of something worryingly like jealousy smouldering quietly amongst all her other feelings.

"Get some sleep, Glow Worm. You're exhausted." Elliot said instead, curling up in the air and wrapping her cloak tightly around herself.

"Goodnight, Elliot. Thanks for rescuing me."'

...

First light found Garret Kennedy settling in to sleep after a long night of staring south and worrying quietly about Estelle. She wasn't strong enough to lead an army but she'd insisted and like usual he'd caved to her every whim. She had the Delta Psi with her and it was only a few minutes' flight away at top speed, he reassured himself. Even still it was too cold when he retreated to the room they'd been using. Not the cold of the dead or even the blistering cold that rolled in waves from the frozen walls; it was the empty coldness of not having her by his side. He finally fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by nightmares of being very small again and the terrifying figure of him grandfather looming like a menacing shadow wherever he turned. And then it wasn't too cold. Abruptly it was warm, and wet.

Garrett jerked awake when a trickle of water hit his face and it didn't stop, just flowed in a steady stream from the ice ceiling above.

"What the fuck?" he asked the empty space where Estelle should have been. He hadn't expected a reply but there was a burbling laugh from the corner.

"I made the same mistake at first. I thought she was a delicate little flower that needed protecting. You've done it now, Kennedy."'

That fucking cat _thing_ was still chained to the floor, he'd been vaguely thinking about leaving its rotting corpse on the candy palace's steps and now Garret regretted his decision to wait until Estelle returned to decide what to do with their guest.

"You know why this place is fucking melting?" he demanded.

"You're so fucking stupid." the cat replied from between his bruised, swollen lips. Garret would have struck him again but the next instant the whole mountain shook and a deep rumble hit his ears; the sound of thousands of tons of ice moving and cracking. He was across the room and grabbing his hooded cloak before the noise had even died.

Estelle had taken their army south and Garret was still interrogating the cat, he realised that he has been pretty dumb to stay there alone without his usual guard of Delta Psis. But who'd even know they were there? The Ice King was an idiot and had no idea an advance force of rebel vampires was camped in his territory, it wasn't like the kingdom had a lot of citizens to wander in. Penguin blood was weirdly fishy and thin so he didn't even care to use them as food, so far Garret hadn't laid eyes on a single Ice citizen while they'd been there. And it was only because one of the many fears of the heat-loving demon was being cold that Estelle had even suggested they take him here. Nobody but the two of them knew where they were, who could possibly-

"GARRETT KENNEDY! COME OUT AND STOP HIDING IN YOUR CAVE LIKE A WORM!"

Elliot _fucking_ Bysshe! He should have known better than to leave her alive, he should have known she was lying about not giving a shit whether Marceline had lived or died! But she was slippery and it wasn't like she'd caused trouble once the rebellion was done, she'd just drifted off her own way like so many of the leftover loyalists that he hadn't had time to care about. Of all the traitors, it was _Elliot_ outside his cave melting his ice? It made no sense.

No,not just Elliot. When Garrett pulled the hood low across his face and drifted outside it was to a blinding light, one that made him shield his eyes and cringe away. One that _moved_.

"Hello, Kennedy. You tried to murder my Mom, donked my Mama's brain and abducted my boyfriend. So now I'm gonna kill you. Sounds fair, right?"

He was still trying to avert his eyes from the agonisingly bright light when the first fireball hit, square in the chest. It was hot enough to set his cloak on fire but nowhere near the kind of temperature that could kill a vampire. With a laugh Garrett shed the burning cloak. The sky was overcast and his skin tingled but it was cloudy enough to allow him to move in the weak morning light without fear.

"The little princess. Gotta say, you surprised me, doll. He was right, you're not some swooning damsel waiting to be rescued. But didn't your Mommy ever tell you? You're gonna need to burn hotter than that if you want to kill a vampire. Shoulda stayed in your palace, pretty little fire girl."

He blurred forward with the intention of getting his hands around her throat, only to swerve at the last instant. The axe blade Elliot had swung nicked his neck but barely even deeply enough to draw blood, just enough to make him mad.

"BYSSHE!" Garrett howled, furious. "You fucking traitor!"

He was faster than her, he'd always been faster. Before she could raise the axe again it was knocked from her hands and fell out of her reach into the snow as he barrelled into her, fangs drawn in a snarl and long hands clawing her face and neck. He found the puncture wounds from her Turning, right on the tip of her shoulder, and pressed merciless fingers into them. Nothing could hurt a vampire like an attack against the very centre of their being like that. Elliot screamed and went rigid, shaking and eyes rolling at the unimaginable agony.

"I'll kill you and snort your fucking ashes like coke." Garrett growled sadistically as she writhed and jerked under his hands. "You think this hurts? Wait until I stick a rusty knife through your scars and twist it up against the bones, this is just my fingernails. I'm gonna make you hurt like you can't imagine, you dirty little whore."

"Last mistake you'll ever make, Garrett. Never call her that."'

He'd momentarily forgotten about the flame girl. In his rage Garrett was single minded, always had been. And Elliot had opened his skin for the first time in centuries. There was a moment where he experienced a realisation that he wasn't as clever as he thought he was, that Estelle had always been the brains of the operation. Then the world exploded into a burning torment like he'd never known before.

Elliot scrambled away, still sobbing from the pain of having her magical core assaulted but barely able to think around her shock. Phoebe stood a few feet away, blazing white with a controlled fire, channelling a bright stream of flame to engulf Garrett completely. He was curled into a ball of pain, screaming in an inhuman way with the fire consumed him. It was a mercy that the light and wavering heat haze distorted the image of his flesh falling from his bones, Elliot thought. Even though he was the rebel leader, even though she'd had many vivid fantasies about watching him die. It was different when it was for real. But if the trauma affected Phoebe at all she didn't show it. All that was left writhing in the white flame was a skeleton with chunks of twitching muscle trying to regenerate in vain; next second the outline collapsed into a heap of ashes and Garrett Kennedy died.

"You killed him." Elliot mumbled through numb lips. "Your Mom's gonna be so proud."

Phoebe wasn't listening. She'd replaced her shield and without a backward glance at the dead rebel's ashes or her injured guardian she sprinted forward to the mouth of the cave. Elliot knew it wasn't an abandonment, she'd always known that the moment Garrett was dead Firefly would be busy rescuing her beau and wouldn't have a second's thought about the vampire who'd helped. It stood to reason, it was logical. It hurt almost as much as Garrett's fingernails against her bite scars.

"-thought you were dead, oh Grod, what did they do to you?" she was saying as she staggered back out of the cave with a shivering and very naked cat demon curled in her arms. It was a strange sight for so many reasons. Phoebe was still wearing her wedding dress, Yrran was purring and snuggling into her, every step she took caused a small cascade of melt water to flow away from her booted feet. But as they drew closer a scent hit Elliot's nose, one she hated and knew intimately. It was the scent of impending death.

"His wounds are badly infected, you need to get him back to the palace _now_. He needs medicine or he'll die," she told Phoebe in a rush. The flame girl paled beneath her shield and turned to run back to where she'd left Garm. Elliot was still in shock, still reeling that she'd actually seen Garrett die for real. But she could see that even though she'd slept right through the night before Phoebe was exhausted and not as strong as she thought she was. So Elliot picked herself up out of the snow, shoved all of her thoughts away to one side and deftly plucked the injured cat from the girl's arms.

"Concentrate on staying upright. I won't hurt him." she said gently when Firefly stared up at her.

"...Ok. Listen, Elliot. Thank you."

"Later, Glow Worm. Get your kitty home and you can thank me later."

"I'm c-cold." Yrran muttered as they sped across the landscape after Garm's enormous bounds.

"You're feverish, your blood is infected. Hold still, cat boy. Your legs are broken and your wounds are infected. When we get to the palace I'll bring you to Queen Bubblegum and the doctor, she'll be able to help. What did you tell Garrett? I know he must have seen your memories."

But she was scanning his mind even before he tried to reply. Garrett knew about his fondness for Phoebe, he knew about the girl's especially close relationship with her Mama although that was no secret. But it had been difficult for him, demon blood was strange and hard to drink. Mostly he knew about the wretched circumstances the Grimmalk had grown up in and that wasn't really useful information for an invasion. Wait, she went back over that last thought. _Invasion?_

"Fuck!"

Elliot almost shot past Garm when Phoebe pulled the wolf up sharply. They were coming through the candy forest, on a heavily wooded ridge overlooking the wide grassy rise that lead up to the palace. It afforded them a spectacular view of the vast army encamped outside the main gate.

"Estelle." Elliot growled, eyes narrowing. "That's why she wasn't there with Garrett. I wondered where she'd gone."

"Are those the semi-human herdlings?" Phoebe gasped. "Oh Grod, Finn's gonna hate having to fight them. They're dumb but they're huge and there are so many of them. Thousands."

"Is there another way into the palace?"

The princess thought for a moment, brow furrowed, before she nodded.

"The old tart toter route, it leads directly into Mama's lab. We need to circle around to the south and there's a way in on the far side of the palace. It goes for miles."

She wheeled the wolf around and disappeared back through the trees, leaving Elliot and Yrran no option but to glide after her. It wasn't far; Phoebe stopped again at a sheer rock wall that appeared to be a naturally occurring feature. She dismounted and turned to her companions.

"Mama's crazy paranoid sometimes. You'd only know that this was here if she'd shown you. But if you tap it three times _right here_ -" she tapped just above where the stone met the ground at the edge of the boulder and with a deep grinding rumble a passageway opened up. "See? Tart toter route."

They hurried into the surprisingly well kept tunnel and with another tap the entrance sealed up behind them. Firefly wasted no time rushing forward, back toward the palace and the family she was desperate to see. Elliot swept after her with Yrran still carefully held in her arms. He was only semiconscious but she could feel the strong thrum of his heartbeat and despite her burgeoning rivalry the vampire couldn't quite keep from tightening her arms around him protectively.

"You better stay alive, cat boy. Glow Worm cares about you too much, she'd be crushed if you died. Hold on." she muttered into his ear as the end of the tunnel came into view.

They burst out into the laboratory and the first thing Elliot noticed was that it was much more crowded than she'd thought it would be. Also that it was full of screaming.

"WHERE IS HE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? JOSHUA? WHERE'S MY JAKEY? WHERE'S MY PUPPY?"

There was Queen Bubblegum, screaming nonsense while a crowd of family and subjects tried to calm her and Jake himself attempted to get her attention. But her eyes were wide and unfocused, they slid right past Phoebe and Elliot unseeingly.

"Mom?" Phoebe asked in a small voice. Marceline wheeled around from where she'd been trying to calm her ex wife and her eyes went wide. She flung a hug around her daughter and held her close, taking huge shuddering breaths of relief and delayed terror.

"Phoebe? Oh thank Grod, you're safe! What happened, how did you escape?"

"I- it's a long story. What happened to Mama? Is she gonna be ok?"

"I don't know. She just started screaming and we all came running. Her eyes- she, she can't see. Something's gone wrong in her mind, something changed about an hour ago and... Firefly, she's gone crazy." Marceline replied in a hushed voice, eyes downcast. It only took a moment for her daughter to put it all together.

"Oh- Oh no, Mom, I'm so sorry. I fucked up, it's my fault. I did this to Mama. I killed Garrett, I forgot they were mentally linked."


	20. Chapter 20

**Guys, I fucked up. As you may be aware I try to make my stories as accurate as possible, even the fantasy. And the name Nia is Swahili. The Swahili people live in East Africa but Nia is from West Africa, we established that when she alluded to crossing the Atlantic and inciting slave revolts in the Americas. So with deepest apologies I have ever so slightly fudged her background. She's now ethnically Yoruba and from the tribal territory in Nigeria. And she has a Swahili name, because I didn't research as thoroughly as I should have. Fight me.**

 **I want to take a moment to thank my reviewers from the bottom of my heart. It's been a rough time recently what with being ill and having shitty personal stuff going on. Having the support of the community, even just anonymous names on a screen, some days it's been the only thing that's made me smile. When you guys take the time to let me know how you feel about my work it's just the best feeling. Because writing is like putting a little bit of your soul on display for public critique and it's kinda terrifying even if I've done it dozens of times before. So guys, seriously, thank you for appreciating my creative outlet. One of these days I might have an original novel published and you'll know it's mine because it'll be full of queer mermaids and sexy lady knights and thinly veiled Queen lyrics.**

 **Content warning: this chapter is gonna fuck you up. Prophecies, horsemen, gore, violence, character death. Forgive me.**

* * *

There was nothing else they could do for the moment. Stefan shook his head sadly and drifted across to where Marceline hovered in the corner of her ex wife's bedroom.

"I'm so sorry." he murmured quietly. "At least she's resting now."

Marceline looked worse than he'd ever seen her before. Her hair hung limp and lifeless, eyes dull, face shadowed with grief. It had taken the combined efforts of Zoe's Talent and Peppermint Butler's sleeping powder to calm Bonnie; now the queen was curled onto her side in slumber and it was almost like nothing had changed, she looked just like she had on so many nights when they'd been happy together. Before Marceline's whole world had ended for the third time in her life. She knew who to blame and it wasn't Phoebe. Perhaps killing Estelle wouldn't help, perhaps Bonnie was just stuck that way forever now. Or perhaps eradicating every trace of Garrett's vampiric bloodline would fix her. There was only one way to find out.

"I'm going to kill Estelle." Marceline told him quietly. Stefan sighed and rested his head against her thin shoulder, drawing her into a loose hug.

"I know.' he replied. "And I know there's no point trying to talk you out of it. Please just... We've already lost too many. You better come home."

Marceline wanted to promise it, wanted to reassure him. But one of the things her wrecked marriage had taught her was not to make promises she couldn't keep. And what else was left to say? She didn't have any room left in her heart for anything but revenge now, and finding some kind of end to the nightmare that had settle upon them. So she just shook her head, squeezed him in a hug and drifted out into the hall. Phoebe was waiting in the throne room, all the kids were. And somewhere underneath her numb horror about Bonnie's insanity she still wanted to know what traumas had happened to her daughter, too. So trusting that Stefan would stay and tend to her ex wife she left and went to find out.

"Mom." Jake greeted her in relief when she arrived. "Tell them I'm not the Regent, you are. Tell them I'm not gonna take the throne until Mama's better, this is crazy! I don't know how to be a Regent."

"Your Mama divorced me, Jake. I'm here as a refugee now the same as everyone else. I'm sorry, son. Time for you to step up, for the good of the kingdom. They need a strong leader."

It was a weird sense of déjà vu to watch him scowl around and lower himself reluctantly into the imposing throne. Like that night a thousand lifetimes ago when she'd organised the search parties after the Lich's Grimmalk had abducted Bonnie, back when they'd just been reclusive musician and brilliant science princess and everything had been so much simpler. Before prophecies and mind bending and centuries old civil war. Jake scowled around the room and just as they had all those years before the crowd of candies and assorted citizens fell silent, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Ok. So you all know that my mother Queen Bubblegum is sick. As her eldest son and crown prince I'll be filling in for her until she recovers. This is temporary. The royal family have much to discuss today, for now court is ended. If you have urgent business that can't wait please see Peppermint Butler. Dismissed."

They filed out muttering and confused, staring hard at Marceline like it was somehow her fault. As soon as the last candy had left the hall Peppermint Butler bowed to them and retreated, closing the door behind him and leaving the family to their private business. Marceline turned to her daughter and despite everything she managed to find an affectionate smile to drag onto her face.

"How is Yrran?" she asked, because it seemed as good a place as any to start.

"He's in Tilda's hospital room since there was already so much medical equipment in there. Dr Princess has him on intravenous antibiotics but we can't be certain how a demon's metabolism will affect it. Granddaddy's with him, I think Yrran's a bit starstruck." Phoebe replied. It didn't escape her mother's notice that she sounded exhausted and Marceline made a mental note to make sure her daughter took the time to rest as soon as they knew what had happened.

"Start from the beginning, Firefly. What happened?"

"Well, Victoria enchanted Finn's axe with her ice magic-"

"That was his idea, actually." Victoria piped up from where she was sitting with Finn.

"Really? I never would have thought of it, he's smarter than he looks." Phoebe grinned.

"Hey! I do something rad and save your life and this is how you repay me?" Finn demanded.

"It's a compliment! You'd have to be smarter than you look to be able to breathe and walk at the same time-

"CHILDREN!" Jake boomed before Marceline could even open her mouth. "Please continue the story, Phoebe."

"Ok, so the axe was enchanted. I got to the Fire Kingdom, we had the wedding ceremony and-"

"So you actually married him? Gross!" Finn interjected. He deflated under his brother's steely glare though and gestured for his sister to continue.

"We had the _ceremony_ , Finn. I didn't consummate it. Anyway, I was in the bridal chamber afterwards and that fucking creep made me undress, so I tricked him in taking off my royal gem. Yeah, the one that stabilises my core? Bam. Mini black hole. I sucked that fucker in and I'm pretty sure I actually engulfed the nuclear material of his core. So, he's not gonna be a problem any time soon and I have some extra juice for the next time I need to incinerate a bitch. It was terrifying and super cool."

"Did you suck in the Fire King too? Is that how you killed him?" Finn asked with huge, excited eyes.

"Did I _say_ I killed him? No. I said that Daven was on the throne now. The old king could have abdicated and handed over power, you don't know." Phoebe replied with an eye roll.

"Did he abdicate? Just... walk away and say he didn't want to be a king any more?" Jake asked.

"No, he's super dead. I spilt his head open with the ice axe and he froze solid then shattered." Phoebe shrugged.

" _Badass!_ " Finn exclaimed.

"Then I went to find Garrett and he was alone and had Yrran so I burned him to death. It was sorta gross, smelled real bad."

"You just burned him to death?" Marceline asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah, he was gonna rip my head off I think but Elliot distracted him and while they were busy wrestling I channelled a super hot flare of fire onto him like how Daven showed me. Mom, I've been sneaking away for weeks to have secret fire warrior training with him, don't be mad because I'd be dead now if I hadn't. I can do stuff with my fire, crazy stuff. Mama taught me to think sideways about problems and I figured I should learn about different types of star when I worked out that that's what my inner core is. I'm a tiny sentient star. And stars emit UV radiation. I didn't just burn him, I produced a stream of concentrated artificial sunlight. Like he was caught in a laser. That's how I got talking to Yrran at first because the Grimmalk book that I stole from the library said they could see in UV and I needed someone to accurately assess how much I was producing. I accidentally gave him sunburn though because he's got no fur and his skin is so fair-"

Phoebe broke off from her rambling explanation when she saw how her family were staring at her. She shrugged, self conscious and embarrassed.

"I just thought it would be a cool idea to see if I could produce light off the visible spectrum." she muttered uncomfortably.

"You, Firefly, are every bit as much a crazy genius as your Mama ever was. You know that?" Marceline finally managed to say. She came forward and wrapped Phoebe in a tight hug, resting her face against the warm indigo flames of her hair and silently thanking the cosmos that her daughter was a rebellious badass who didn't play by other people's rules, not even her parents'.

In the end there wasn't much left to do. Marceline sent Phoebe to get some rest and Jake to attend to his Mama's neglected paperwork. The citizens would still need feeding and paying even if there was a war raging outside. As Jake left the hall she called to Peppermint Butler to send her father down to them, too. That left her alone with Finn and Victoria.

"I'm making an executive decision, guys. For your own safety and for the baby, I want the two of you to go with your Granddaddy to the Nightosphere. Don't argue, Finn. You're a few months away from becoming a father, you can't risk being here when all of this is going down." she told him, grim faced.

"Mom, no! I can fight!" he protested.

"I know you can, nobody is questioning your bravery or skill. But I have to make some hard choices and I have to do it alone now that your Mama is sicker than ever. And it sounds cold, but for the succession you need to be away from here. We already lost Kim. Victoria, the baby you carry has a claim to the Candy throne as well as being second in line to the Ice throne. If the worst happens and we lose this war you'll need to stay Below with my father and raise your child, tell them who they are. And once they're grown if they want to reclaim their birthright then by all means, I'm sure the survivors will welcome you with open arms. But right now you're still children expecting a child of your own. Someone needs to be a responsible adult."

"I don't like it." Finn replied with a sulk.

"I don't care if you like it or not, Finn. I'm your queen and your mother. I swore a vow and I'm not going to lose you, or the baby."

"I agree." a voice from behind announced. Marceline turned and let her father wrap his arms around her comfortingly. It was strange, who'd have guessed she'd ever feel comforted by Hunson's presence? But the Nightosphere was their last and best bolthole and she wasn't taking chances with her son's safety.

"I wish there was time to say goodbye to my Dad." Victoria murmured. "He doesn't know about the baby, I've not seen him in so long. What if he forgets who I am?"

"Then you can tell him it all again, from the start. It'll be an amazing story for him. But you have to be alive for that to happen, Victoria." Hunson told her gravely. She sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"You three go on ahead, I'll pack up your room and send someone through the portal with your things. Take care of them for me, Daddy." Marceline added as she turned to her father.

"I promise." he murmured, folding her into another hug. "Come now, better too soon than too late."

He gestured in the air and the portal to the demon dimension opened behind him. Marceline hugged all three of them in turn one last time before they stepped away and the air snapped back in place behind them like they'd never been there.

...

By the time night was falling across the land Marceline was exhausted. All she wanted was to curl up in her wife's arms and sleep for days, she wanted to be skin to skin with Bonnie and feel wrapped in the protective love they'd shared for so many years. Instead she was nervously sharpening her axe again. Nightfall meant vampires and they were camped right outside the gates, too many to launch a simple counter attack against when all their thralls and semi-human minions were accounted for. So many more than anyone had realised, how had she never thought about how big the herds must have grown in the four hundred years since she'd fled? And now they were being mobilised as an army. The gates of the town created a bottleneck; there was no way their tiny army of Grimmalks, heroes and Banana Guards would make it through without being cut down easily. So there was only one possible course of action left to them. She needed to draw the invaders away. It was her they were after anyway, she knew the thralls were dumb and would follow wherever she went if they were ordered to hunt her. And there were only a select number of people she trusted to accompany her on what could easily end as a suicide mission. Marceline and her three trusted generals would lead a charge out of the gates themselves, draw the enemies away from the town. The four of them needed to be conspicuous, easy to follow but still faster than the enthralled semi-humans who'd be giving chase. Flying was out of the question, they'd be too hard to see in the air. She racked her brain for a moment, trying to think of a plan. They needed to be visible in the dark so they'd need something flaming, Phoebe had been pressed into service to enchant their weaponry the way Victoria had with Finn's axe. Marceline hoped it would draw attention for miles around so long as they were elevated enough to be seen through the crowd. An idea came to her, something she'd heard or read long before when she'd been a mortal child. She touched her hand to the ground and concentrated her long ignored necromancer Talent.

The earth in front of her erupted and a pale, skeletal horse appeared. That would do perfectly, she thought. Strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, make the dumb pre-war Old Bloods scared that one of her father's stupid prophecies was about to come true.

"A pale horse. Finally"

She spun at the voice and was not surprised to see Johnson hovering there. Behind him were Elliot and Nia, all armed with their own flaming swords and grim faced. They nodded to her.

"Johnson said it was time. Are we riding out?" Elliot asked.

"We need to lead the thralls away from the town. It's me they're here for, so long as they see me leave they'll follow. Once we get them far enough away I want you to turn and fight on my signal. There are thousands of them and four of us but we can fly, we're stronger and smarter and we'll be followed by reinforcements once they can get out without it turning into a massacre. Are you guys down for this?" Marcy asked them as she hefted her axe and examined the deadly edge.

"I have waited my entire life for this moment." Johnson told her seriously. "I was born for it. And after all these centuries if I have not earned my place at your father's right hand then let this final blood soaked moment anoint me as his most faithful servant and as an obedient subject to my queen."

Marceline rolled her eyes but held her tongue. If Johnson wanted to think they were fulfilling some crazy old prophecy then she was happy to let him, so long as he helped her. All she cared about was drawing the herd away from the town before she faced down Estelle, so that no innocents would be hurt. It occurred to her in a distant way that she'd found her moral compass again at some point in the last seventeen years. The thought brought her absolutely no pleasure at all.

"Saddle up, guys. We'll be ready to go soon." she replied, shoving the thought away from herself. She wanted Stefan and the girls with her, not her old war council. But Zoe wouldn't leave Matilda's side and Stefan was tending to Bonnie, there was nobody else she could turn to who'd be strong enough to help her. So reluctantly Marceline touched the ground again and three more skeleton horses fought their way up from their ancient graves.

"I would feel more comfortable upon a mount befitting a holy woman of the Yoruba. There are no elephants?" Nia asked with a frown.

"None to hand, sorry. I can only work with what's already in the ground. Lemme see..." Marceline broke off in concentration, touching the earth of the courtyard again and sighing as her Talent reached down once more. "Ok, so it's your choice. Skeleton horse, skeleton dog, skeleton human or... uh... I have no idea what that thing is? But it's mostly just dust and rock by now and too far down to reanimate anyway. Or skeleton raccoon. What do you wanna ride out on?"

"Skeleton horse. But I am not happy." Nia replied, still scowling.

"Can it, we've got more important stuff to worry about." Elliot snapped at her. She seemed jittery, angry. Marceline had no time to ask why though. "Besides, it says in the Book of Revelation that the four ride out on horses. Not elephants."

"I have never read it." Nia replied primly.

"It says it right there. Revelation twenty one five. _And lo, War did complain that she'd prefer an elephant, Death did touch the earth like a chump and declare that there were none to reanimate and Famine thought they were both acting like morons and the whole thing was dumb. Verily did Famine wish War would just shut her fucking mouth and saddle up._ No arguing with an ancient prophecy." Elliot grinned nastily.

"Hold your tongues, both of you. We are at the End of Days and you still do not take your role seriously. This is not what I'd hoped." Johnson sighed before Nia could retort. Next second he'd hovered himself astride his bony mount and motioned for the three women to follow. "Come, we will at least do the rest of this with dignity."

The others joined him atop their skeletal horses and once Marceline was settled as comfortably as she could be upon an uncushioned spinal column she led them forward to the gates into the town and down to the outer wall in a grim procession. At the main gate she stopped and unslung her axe from her back, activating the enchanted fire to race across the blades as she swung it through the air experimentally. She closed her eyes and reached out with her Talent. It was harder to reanimate at a distance but she wasn't the most powerful creature in Ooo for nothing. After a moment's deep concentration the usual grunting and bellowing of the enthralled semi-humans beyond the gate was replaced with screams that tore the night and almost covered the noise of the earth ripping open all the way up to the edge of the forest as hundreds of skeletons poured out to answer their mistress' call. The first time her Talent had manifested Marceline had been terrified and disgusted with herself. She'd scrambled away from the grave she and Simon had dug almost a century before, horrified by what she'd done. Sometimes in her nightmares she still saw the earth split open as her mother's rotting hands clawed away the dirt to answer her call. She should have known, no magic could bring back the dead. But tonight she didn't need them to truly live or think for themselves, tonight she just needed an army. Marceline pushed that terrible memory away from herself and brought her axe to bear as she nodded to the gate guards. The massive doors swung open and the four horsemen rode out into a sea of chaos.

...

Flesh parted without any resistance as the burning axe whirled through the night air and the screams of the thralls rang like a terrible melody in Marceline's ears. The four of them hacked a path through the seething herd and finally made the edge of the forest. As Marceline turned to her comrades she saw Johnson plunge forwards with his flaming sword in hand and thrust the blade right through the throat of an approaching rebel vampire. The rebel's spine must have been completely severed because the howling wind blew his ashes all over Johnson, coating him head to toe in powdery white. He grinned savagely and held his sword up to salute the sky.

"The White Rider!" Johnson called triumphantly.

"The Red Rider!" Nia answered reverently. Marceline looked; the other woman was so soaked in the blood of the thralls that her clothes, skin, and mount were all a uniform shade of dark crimson.

"The Black Rider." Elliot agreed with a shrug, indicating to her mud-covered body and horse. "They pulled me down on the riverbank for a moment, I'm filthy."

That left only one. Marceline looked down as the clouds shifted and her ashen skin glowed in the soft light.

"The Pale Rider." she murmured. There was that same sensation in the air of expectation that she'd felt when Finn and Jake had kept the view along the watchtower. Like the air was full of static electricity. It felt a lot like what had started as a dumb almost-prank to scare the Old Bloods was worryingly close to fulfilling an ancient prophecy, like she'd badly misjudged things. But there was no time to think of a new plan, the herd were at least following like she'd hoped. Back behind them she could see a knot of vampires holding back, those must be Estelle's generals gathering like witches at a black mass.

"This way! Through the forest and out to Witches' Valley! We can trap them in the hollow!" Marceline yelled as she spurred her horse forward.

They plunged off through the trees with a yell as the herdlings charged after them, blank eyed and bellowing. As they galloped headlong and she ducked branches and leapt fallen logs Marceline's mind whirled. Did this mean it was truly the End Of Days? Was the world going to end, again? Or just her world? The prophecy was frustratingly vague, translated and transcribed and retold so many times that she had no idea which version was dominant. The biblical apocalypse was very different from the pop culture version she'd been vaguely aware of as a child. Maybe they were all true in a way, or all contained a grain of the eventual outcome. Probably even Hunson didn't know. There was no more time to wonder about it anyway; next second she crashed through the treeline into the hollow fancifully called Witches' Valley by the locals, the same shallow meadow where Bonnie had planted wild strawberries for her in happier years. As skeletal hooves tore the earth a shriek from up ahead had them pulling up short. A dark mass of silhouettes scattered in all directions as the riders stared around in surprise.

"Hawthorn?" Marceline asked, recognising the bulky outline with a tangled mass of filthy black hair that was shuffling away from her.

"Marceline the Vampire Queen! Well met. I was just leaving." the tree witch replied hurriedly.

"Hold up. You owe me one for the wig. We have enemies right behind us, we're planning to trap them here. Use your magic to stop any escaping through the trees and we're even. Deal?"

Hawthorn hesitated visibly. She reached up and ran one twiggy hand over the ragged ends of her wig and sighed.

"Fine, I'll do this one favour for you and then we're quits. How about you hurry up and massacre your enemies already so my coven can get back to our Black Mass?"

The tree witch retreated into the foliage and as she faded from view the branches grew thick and twisted together to form a solid barrier on three sides of the meadow. Not a moment too soon; next second the herdlings and their vampire masters broke through at the other end of the hollow pursued by skeletons, Grimmalks and the ragtag army of Banana Guards and volunteer citizens. Marceline hefted her axe and let a snarl loose across her face. The world might be about to end, who knew what would happen now that she'd invoked the ancient prophecies. But she was about to get revenge at least. For Kim, for Bonnie, for Marco and all her old comrades, for every innocent murdered by a vampire that she'd failed to bring to heel. All of it her fault and the only atonement she could ever achieve was to finally fulfil the destiny she'd been denying for a millennium. Tonight her world would end, tonight she'd become Death, The Pale Rider. She rose into the air with a cry and brought her axe down with demonic strength across the throat of the first vampire to reach her. He exploded into ashes as the wind began to howl and the first spatters of a rainstorm touched her skin. Marceline didn't notice, she was already lost to bloodlust.

The ground churned with blood and the sticky juice of strawberries that nobody had harvested that year. It was an intoxicating smell, death and sweetness and terror, it bypassed the civilised humanity of Marceline's mind and spoke directly to the demon underneath. She felt like a trance had fallen across her as she sliced and ripped her way through her enemies, as though there was a kind of inner peace in her thoughtless destruction that she was never able to access except for when she had hands soaked in blood. And then her vision tunnelled and locked onto her target. Estelle was there and _she had Finn's axe._ Phoebe must have left it behind after she rescued her Grimmalk and now Estelle had found it. Marceline boiled with fury and her skin erupted with blue flame.

"ESTELLE! FACE ME, YOU COWARD!" she screamed furiously as huge demonic wings unfurled from her back.

"YOU KILLED GARRETT! I'LL DESTROY YOU!" the other woman hurled back at her. They were about to end this for good, Marceline could feel it. This was the end of her world, the end of her fight. It must be.

She hovered from her horse and stood on the ground as the feeling of expectant static swelled around her and the air crackled with lightning. And then for a split second the world stopped. Marceline was frozen by the intense surge of horror in her chest. Over Estelle's shoulder she saw a face she'd have known anywhere, a face that was lit a soft pink in the brief flash of lightning before the visor of the red helmet she wore was slammed down.

 _"BONNIE! NO!"_

Estelle turned. In slow motion Marceline saw the stolen axe sweep through the air as the figure in the red plate-mail knelt at the feet of the false queen. Why was Bonnie wearing her armour? Why was she outside of the palace anyway, where was Stefan? And... and why was the helmet rolling across the ground, why was the rest of the armour slumping headless at Estelle's feet? What was the dark liquid leaking from the pink ruin where a neck should have been?

Someone was screaming loudly enough to shake the sky, screaming inhumanly with rage and grief and vengeance. Marceline realised after a moment that it was her, that Estelle was fleeing back above the treetops and her minions lay dead and dying at the hands of their army. And still she couldn't move, couldn't do more than scream to the night as her brain began to process what she'd witnessed. Beneath her unearthly scream a chant went up from their allies, first from the Banana Guards but quickly adopted by the Grimmalks and volunteers too.

" _The queen is dead! Long live the king!"_

Four horsemen had ridden out, a prophecy had been fulfilled. And now Marceline's world had ended.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey again guys, sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter. It should be pretty obvious before you read it that it's an emotional one, right? This was tough to write. I want to send huge love and thank yous to everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well as an apology for the fan tears that may have been spilt. But you know what's weird? Writing the final scene of last chapter wasn't anywhere near as emotional for me as writing the final scene of this chapter. But just for a brief pace-change this is almost completely reaction based with just a light sprinkling of plot. Kinda. Well, you'll see.**

 **Guys, the sequel to Rehearsal is out! YAY! Go read it as soon as you finish leaving me a review for this chapter! Seriously, it's as awesome as ever and I am so psyched to see were this story is going. It's called Opening Act and it's written by my very good friend CountingWithTurkeys who is not just an amazing author but also a very excellent person.**

 **Content warning: all the sads. So many sads. Shock, pain, violence, reveals, plot devices, grief, more pain.**

* * *

They spoke in horrified whispers for years afterwards about the night she tried to tear the very stars from the heavens in her grief. They even tried to speak to her directly, tried to reason with her and calm her. Marceline ignored them all. Time passed. Someone yelled her name, shook her shoulder. She ignored them too. How long had she been visiting unspeakable destruction down on the landscape before she'd been forcibly calmed back from grief-fuelled blood lust? Long enough that she didn't know who she was or what she was doing anymore. Long enough that someone had thought to summon Zoe, calm her enough with her lineage's Talent for Peppermint Butler to blow his magical sleeping powder in her face and carry her across the field of carnage back to the palace. Once the inhuman rage had cooled it crystallised, turned cold and hard like lava after an eruption. She no longer had the energy to lift her arms or turn her head, there was no point anymore. Bonnie was dead. Estelle had cut her head off with Finn's axe. And it was Marceline's fault, like every other death in her pointless war. She'd killed the only woman she'd ever loved and cursed herself an eternity alone tortured by with memories and regrets.

"Mom, come on. Please talk to me."

She hadn't cried yet, Marceline realised. Was that normal? She hadn't spoken a word since she'd woken from the magical sleep and found that someone had cleaned the blood and ash from her skin and laid out fresh clothes for her. So now she was clean again, as though a little water could undo all that death.

"Marcy? Please, just nod your head if you can hear me."

In the strange new reality Marceline had woken to nothing made any sense any more. Why did it matter if she was clean or comfortable? Why not just let her rage until daybreak, let the sun put her out of her misery? Was there a point to any of it? Had there ever been?

"Your Highness, I'm sorry to intrude at such a time. But there is a delicate matter. The late queen instructed me to give you this letter without delay should the news of her passing ever reach us. I am so, so sorry. But she insisted. We should honour her last wish."

Something was placed into her hands and perhaps a couple of the words spoken to her did make sense after all because Marceline looked down at the pale pink envelope with her name written on it in perfect script. Grod, her wife had had such amazing handwriting, how had she never noticed before? The way she formed such perfect little circles on round letters, the tiny flourish on every capital. Nothing new would ever be written in that same script, how could the words remain when the hand that formed them was gone? It took her a moment to figure out what she was supposed to be doing.

"From Bonnie?" Marceline heard herself croak. Her voice was rough, throat sore from who knew how many hours of unearthly screaming.

"She insisted it be brought directly to you, Highness."

Oh, it was Peps. Where had he come from? But then Marceline realised she didn't care. The only thing that mattered anymore was the letter sitting in her hands. She stared at it for a long time before she opened it, not hearing any of the gentle encouragements her butler offered. Finally she ripped the envelope open and shook out the letter.

 _Dear Marceline,_

 _This is not the letter you're hoping for. You want me to say that there's been a mistake, that it wasn't me who died on Estelle's axe. I'm sorry to say that if you are reading this then I am dead. I don't know how she came to have your most prized possession but I know that I must die on its blade. I saw it happen, we both know that there's no escaping from a Cosmic Owl Dream._

 _This isn't just to let you know that I've passed. I came to a realization in the last few days and I need to share it with you. What Garrett did to me was to take my memories and twist them, direct them to someone else. He made me believe things that weren't true and forget what I knew in my heart. I thought about it a lot and what I realised was that he was only able to do that because there was already such a great depth of feeling there. Garrett couldn't undo the underlying love no matter how hard he tried, he could only put someone else's face on top of it. Because of his Talent my conscious mind is now diverting all of my emotion towards someone else but it hasn't gone anywhere, he couldn't stop me feeling it. What I need you to know is that even when it's been screwed with and diverted and twisted, there is still so much love and that deep down below all of his interference it flows for the woman who stood next to me and repeated vows on our wedding day. Whoever caused that love to stir in me must be someone incredible, someone who could break down my barriers and reach out to the very core of me. I'm not a naturally emotional person, I'm not good at opening myself to someone. But we have three beautiful children together and a marriage that until recently was perfect. I can only imagine what sort of incredible person you must have been to make that possible. Another thing I remember with perfect clarity is that years ago, before we met, I felt nothing but disdain for mortal weaknesses like love and sentiment. It took centuries of slowly falling for you before I allowed myself to own my feelings, we both know how bad I am at analyzing them. I want to thank you for being patient with me even though it must have been torture for you and I wasn't worth it in the end._

 _But this isn't a love letter. As much as I wish I had the time to wax lyrical about my revelations over my feelings for you we are in the middle of a war. This is a rallying cry. I know I'm going to die, and soon. So I need you to do some important stuff for me. First of all, take care of the children. Jake is fragile since losing Kim, Phoebe is hot headed and unpredictable. But most of all I want you to look after Finn. He's a cosmic entity and I don't want to take any chances with his safety when I'm gone. There's every chance that he's mixed up in stuff we don't even know about and it's so frustrating to try to think of a continuity plan for something that I can't see coming. I'm not going to be here to see it through so I'm putting all of my faith in your abilities to keep him safe. I never thought you'd have to finish this journey alone, I'm so sorry that this is necessary. But circumstances have forced my hand. I can only hope that one day you'll understand even if you can't forgive me for what I had to do. I know I've fucked up beyond repair. I won't insult you by trying to offer platitudes or excuses. I just want you to know that despite what I've done, despite the divorce and the war and my memories being screwed with, I still love my wife with all my heart. Even if I can't recall your smile I feel the empty space in the bed where you should lie, I have the imprint of my wedding ring on my finger. There's a hole in my reality that you should fill and it is my bitterest regret that I go to my grave without making that right. Perhaps I'll come back as a ghost, perhaps in death I'll be free from Garrett's influence. Believe me when I say that this isn't how I wanted it to be, sometimes there's nothing even I can do to find a loophole. Give them hell, love, we both know you were born for it. And when you rip the heads from those usurping bastards' shoulders I hope you'll be at least partly doing it for me. I still love you, Marceline. I just wish I remembered you._

 _All of my love,_

 _Bonnie_

The tears had come, she realised. They'd started spilling quietly down her cheeks somewhere between wondering when Bonnie had written her letter and realising that some part of her wife had still loved her.

"She adored you from the moment she met you." Peppermint Butler told her softly as he pulled the unresisting vampire into a hug. "She loved you so much. She's still counting on you. People like Estelle don't deserve justice. She took away my oldest friend, my creator, my purpose. Now we'll avenge her. I want to watch her turn to ash."

...

The time had finally come. It flicked on like a light switch inside her brain, this wasn't the way it was supposed to be but suddenly things had changed and it all came flooding back. The request, volunteering, the bite. Becoming someone else. And now she was back in control and she had a mission. There was only one fairly large problem and unfortunately he was currently twisting the jagged end of a snapped candy cane pillar into her guts. It went deeper and she hissed in pain and rage. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, she was supposed to be alone when the influence came off!

"You're a spy." Stefan growled in fury. He thrust the broken pillar deeper and she felt it sever her spine, felt her legs disappear from her consciousness. The bastard, she was going to kill him the moment she got free.

"I'll kill you." she growled furiously. He shifted his shape at the same time she did and grappled her back down; she wouldn't escape. Not this time. He knew that if he could only keep her contained long enough then his comrades would return, _someone_ would. They were drawn by the sounds of battling vampires. And sure enough he wasn't alone with the struggling traitor for long.

"Stefan? What the hell? Is that- Keila?"

Elliot. He could have kissed her. She was covered in mud and gore, she looked exhausted, but he felt when her Talent swept the room and her eyes blazed crimson with instant fury. Next second he was holding her back with one shape shifted claw and pinning Keila to the wall with the other.

"Fetch the queen." Stefan instructed her, still with most of his attention on holding the hissing traitor in place.

"Marce? She's fucking catatonic! Or do you mean fetch the other queen, the one who got her head sliced off because you weren't watching her? You fucked up big time, I should stake you both."

"Then fetch Jake! He'll be king now, fetch Jake and Phoebe and anyone you can find! Johnson, Nia, Zoe, I don't care! Bring reinforcements! This would have been a brilliant time for either of us to have lineage still alive!"

Elliot did something else. Stefan didn't know why he'd expected her to listen to him but he didn't care so long as help arrived. She stretched away, shifted her chest and lungs until they were huge and took a breath so deep it seemed like it would never end. Then she opened her unnaturally large mouth and let out a yell so loud it shook the walls.

 _"HELP! WE NEED HELP DOWN HERE! IN THE QUEEN'S BASEMENT LABORATORY, WE HAVE A TRAITOR!"_

Johnson, Nia and their assorted lineage came crashing through the doors moments later armed to the teeth and howling in rage. Keila considered her options, stared around for an exit she might be able to reach and realised her situation was hopeless. Surrender was her only chance, for now.

"Ok, you got me. Take me to Her Royal Fanginess and let me confess, she'll understand. I didn't know what I was doing, Garrett fucked with my memories. He made me a meek little background girl, always here but never noticed. He hid his Talent so far in my sense of self that neither of your brain reading morons could see him; hell I didn't even know he was in there while I was under. But he saw you. And I saw too, and now I know. Even if he's dead now and I have nobody to report to, I saw where-"

"Go to sleep." Stefan commanded her as his massive fist collided with the side of her skull and she flopped unconscious into his hold. He turned to the assembled mass of vampires staring at her, and then to Elliot. She looked back at him and winked with the eye furthest from the rest of the crowd. As uncomfortable as it was he would need to talk to her. But first they needed to deal with the traitor. "Take her to the dungeon and lock her in a vampire-proof cell. Tie her in ropes soaked in garlic oil, you know how to do it. Quickly, before she wakes. She attacked me, she was the one who dressed Queen Bubblegum and sent her onto the battlefield. Her Talent is illusion, don't let her fool you. I thought I had the real queen safe by my side, I'm willing to forfeit my life now if that's what Marceline asks. Go on, take the traitor. I can't look at her."

There were the inevitable questions he answered with brief replies and further commands to leave. Elliot stayed silent, staring at him. Eventually Johnson bowed and though he was reluctant he slung the unconscious vampire over his shoulder before gliding from the room with the others. Finally they were alone and Elliot could speak.

"How long?" she asked. He knew what she meant even if she had the one mind he couldn't read. How long had he known? How long had he been planning?

"Since her second Cosmic Owl Dream. She came to me because she knew I would help. I didn't like it but her logic was flawless as always."

"And did it work?"

He motioned her over to a side wall, unobtrusive but when Elliot thought about it conspicuously free of shelving or any other ornament. It was nothing but smooth pale pink candy-stone.

"I hate you, Elliot Bysshe." Stefan told her seriously. "I hate that I have to trust you and take you into my confidence. Especially since you know what I was forced to do for Marco. But despite that you kept it secret from Marceline to spare her feelings. And I suspect most strongly that it isn't all you're holding secret, is it? Oh don't give me that look, I still can't read your thoughts. But I do observe. I see how you look at her. And I see that you're giving her space, letting her choose. Even if Firefly doesn't know that you're doing it for love, I do. And I know how it feels to watch someone you love slowly fall for someone else. She's in love with Yrran and doesn't know how to tell him, you're in love with her and don't want to hurt her by telling her."

"I don't want to force her to pick one of us. I want her to follow her heart at her own pace, even if it leads away from me." Elliot muttered. A blush was slowly creeping across her cheeks and she looked down at the floor, unable to meet his eyes. "Phoebe is... she's too good for me, man. I'm so broken and dirty, I'm damaged goods. And who can blame her for falling for that demon boy? He's handsome, unique, interesting. He has a pure heart, I'd never tell her so but he's basically like Finn and Jake rolled into one with a dash of both her parents. He's gallant, brave, curious and intelligent and he hasn't turned hard and cynical the way I have. What can I offer her? I'm a loser, now and forever."

"I know how important it is for you to protect her freedom and I understand. That demon cat reminds me of Marco, in a way. Fierce and innocent all at once. But I know that you understand loyalty and duty even if I personally think you're an asshole. There are things you have to do because duty demands it even if it goes against your natural instincts. And there are things I had to do, too. Elliot, I had no choice. Someone told me one time that responsibility demands sacrifice. And now I need you to join me in lying to the world, just for a little longer. I have a plan and I could use the help. I'll keep your secret if you keep mine. Not for malice's sake, though. For duty and responsibility. Deal?"

She hesitated, he could see the doubt in her eyes. But after a long moment of silence Elliot nodded and held out her hand for him to grasp.

"Deal. Now show me what you're been hiding."

He touched a completely ordinary looking brick in the wall and a hidden panel slid away to reveal a small room with a huge cryogenic tank filling almost all of the available space. Through the icy condensation that covered the glass casing she could just make out a shape inside.

"I can't believe you pulled this off." Elliot breathed in awe.

...

The conspicuous signs on the door warning them to keep out might have worked on the candy citizens and even on Finn and Jake when they were younger but Phoebe had been sporadically visiting the attic to say hello to Uncle Neddy since she was very small. The first time she'd been so scared at finding him there, too busy stuttering an explanation to the indifferent dragon that she hadn't heard anyone walk up behind her and it was a shock when she was lifted up in warm arms. She'd squealed in fear and her Mama had laughed before reassuring her that she wasn't in trouble and introducing her for real.

 _"Magnificent, isn't he?"_

 _"Uh-huh. But Mama, if he's your brother why is he a different shape to you?"_

 _"Because that's the way he came from the Mother Gum. People get built different, sweetie. We don't need to figure it out. We just need to respect it."_

 _"Like how me and Finn and Jake are all different!"_

 _"Exactly like that, yes. But you're all equally important even though you're different. And we love all of you, so much."_

The room felt like it had changed, Phoebe thought. It looked so much smaller than in her memory. Was this the angle her Mama had seen the attic from the day she'd caught her six year old daughter snooping where she'd been expressly forbidden from going? Phoebe stopped with one hand still on the door and let that thought soak in. Did that mean she was the same height as Mama now? She was an adult after all, they were the same age biologically. And she'd never know for sure, she'd never thought to check before. Phoebe tried to scan her recent memories of her mother but she still couldn't decide. It was hard to tell, had Queen Bubblegum still been a little taller than her daughter or was Phoebe just remembering her that way because she automatically thought of herself as a child compared to the most powerful queen in Ooo? And had she just thought about her mother in the past tense? But that was correct even if it felt like her chest was being crushed to think it. It was correct, her mother was in the past now. The hand slipped from the door handle and dropped limply to her side. Phoebe stared straight ahead unseeing for a long moment before she swallowed down her unwelcome emotions and forced herself to focus on performing her duty. Just like her mother had taught her.

"Hey Uncle Neddy. It's me, Phoebe."

He didn't react to the sound of her voice but when he heard her name Phoebe could have sworn the huge pink dragon had paused from sucking on his favourite tree root for a moment.

"I came to talk to you. I know, it's been a while. And I bet you've heard a whole load of shouting and stuff that scared you recently, huh? Did Mama come up and tell you what was going on? Well, there are some... bad people. And they did some bad stuff, hurt some people and threatened my Mom. Mama didn't like that, so she decided to stand up to them. There was a fight, there were actually a few different fights. She was so brave. She... she suffered many wounds but still kept going. Until she couldn't keep going anymore. Neddy, I'm here to let you know that your sister, my mother... she died, Neddy. She's dead. And- and it's my fault b-because I didn't think through the consequences of my actions the way she taught me. I killed Garrett, see, while his Talent was still in her mind. She was already unstable from the brain injury and he got in there and twisted up her memories. And then I k-killed him because I was mad he'd hurt Yrran. Isn't that just stupid, though? I can literally burn to death an ancient vampire lord because Yrran got hurt but I can't tell him I like him? And Mama, if she'd known, oh Grod that would have been a fight. I can just hear her yelling, throwing cushions around, storming off. And she says Mom's the drama queen. She _said_ , I guess. She said it. She'll never say it again. She'll never fuss over my dress again or tell me to careful watering the roses again, she'll never go flying with Mom again or dance at a royal ball again. You know she used to let me take the lead in the lab for the day and be my assistant for a change? Just, every now and then. We hadn't done that in ages, I thought maybe, once things were normal again... My Mama is dead. It's never gonna be normal again, is it Neddy?"

Phoebe didn't know when she'd sat down on the step leading to her uncle's pool or when she'd rested her head in her hands to stare with unfocused eyes at her own face flickering back at her from the lethal water. She slowly became aware that she wouldn't much care if she pitched forward into it, it would hurt but then perhaps she'd be feeling something at least. And then the reflection rippled apart with a small splash, then another and another. Phoebe looked up and met the huge eyes of her uncle. He'd abandoned his tree root and had come across to her while she sat, careful not to get too close and get any water on her just like his sister had taught him all those years earlier when they'd first been introduced.

"I just wish I could talk to her one last time." Phoebe whispered as she watched the tears well in his eyes and roll down softly scaled cheeks. "I want her to know that I love her and that I'm so sorry. I want her and Mom to walk me down the aisle when I get married for real, I want her to tuck me into bed and read me a story like when I was little. And I already know which story it would be. It would be the one about the brave princess, the girl who stayed strong and kind even when things got tough. She'd want me to be brave. I wish I could cry like everybody else, Neddy."

He bowed his head until the end of his pink snout almost touched the surface of the water and squeezed his eyes tight shut. A thicker stream of tears flowed away down his cheeks and ever so carefully Phoebe reached out to lay her hand comfortingly against the dry patch of scales between his nostrils.

"Thank you, Neddy." she murmured to him. In response the great dragon opened his mouth and let out a melodic wail that wavered up and down the scale like a kind of odd music. It echoed all around the attic and harmonised with itself, almost like there were two candy voices singing. Phoebe continued stroking the warm scales of her uncle's snout while he cried enough for two and sang his last farewell.


	22. Chapter 22

**So guess who hasn't had internet all week? This is a terrible cliché but… the cat ate my router. But I'm back and with a big-ass important chapter for you! I hope you like it!**

 **Are you READY for the BIG REVEAL?! Honestly I'm worried I overhyped this and you'll all just shrug and think it's dumb. But this is based on a fan theory I read a while ago, I just extended it into the Foundlingsverse. We're drawing closer to the end, dear readers, and I have a couple of new ideas on how I want to play it.**

 **As ever, I'm going to take the opportunity to plug my awesome friend CountingWithTurkeys and her story Opening Act. Omg I am speechless at the last chapter, the whole thing really. Of all the writers I've recommended to you over the last couple of years she's easily the best. Go read her stuff! After this, of course. Quick and unrelated note, any of my northern English readers going to see Iron Maiden tomorrow night? Because we'll be there! Look for a chunky girl with very short purple hair and a walking cane next to a tiny ginger enby with facial piercings and Viking style dreadlocks. Come say hi!**

 **Content warning: Oh hell, where do I begin? In no particular order; grief, unhealthy coping strategies, two last OCs maybe sorta three SORRY BUT I NEEDED THEM, REVEALS, possession, classics, flashbacks, torture, prophecy, Finn Finning at Maximum Finn.**

* * *

"Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again."

It was the way her voice sounded almost hollow, almost emotionless, that would have sent shivers down his spine if he'd had one. Prismo didn't like it when people turned up in his Time Room without an invitation, especially not mentally unbalanced vampires who may or may not have a death wish. But he didn't have the heart to revoke her access, the best he could do was try to reason with her.

"Your Highness. Please, this isn't healthy."

"Don't give a fuck. Show me a world where she lives."

Prismo sighed but he'd heard all about the way she'd threatened the Cosmic Owl and he wasn't keen to discover if the vampire queen could hurt him or not. He was an extra-dimensional cosmic being, he didn't know if he even could die in any meaningful sense, at least not at the hands of a dimension-bound almost-mortal. On the other hand if he refused her request she'd most likely help him find out. So with a heavy heart he reached out through the infinite possibilities and settled on a universe that would satisfy her. It would probably also hurt like a knife through the heart but maybe that would dissuade her from coming back again. Even if he didn't experience time the way a being inside a dimension might he knew that five visits in what for her was less than two days wasn't a healthy way to heal from grief. The wall behind him became a huge screen and Prismo slid around to the side of the sofa he'd created for her, offering whatever comfort he could with his almost intangible presence. Marceline had requested to see a universe where her wife was living and happy, presumably with her. Nobody could fault him for not delivering the exact request at least; the universe he'd chosen was almost too perfect.

"She's so beautiful." Marceline whispered as she watched the other-world version of her late wife strolling through the rose garden of her palace. "I could have just stared at her face for hours, you know? Grod, look at her eyes. Amazing. How does she manage to look so perfect without even trying? I remember when we first met, I almost couldn't believe she was real. She looked like a painting come to life. Is that me?"

She fell silent as another version of herself took the queen's hand and pressed a demure kiss to it before flashing a mischievous smile and tugging her into a much less reserved embrace.

"She's happy, in this universe. She has everything her heart desires." Prismo told her softly.

"I'm so lucky to be one of the things her heart desires." Marceline replied, almost to herself. Her face lit up when the pink woman on the screen laughed. "Did you know she had a laugh like music? It was like... I dunno, man. I can't even describe it. Like... Urgh. She was just too perfect. You're just too perfect, Bon. Too good for me."

"Don't-" Prismo warned, a moment too late. This time when her cool hand reached to the screen it disturbed the image and rather than allow her to be sucked into that world entirely Prismo was forced to cut the connection to the other dimension. It rippled and faded, leaving the vampire staring at a blank wall.

"And you're gone. Really and truly gone forever. Estelle took you from me, like she takes everyone. I'm gonna avenge you, babe. I promise." Marceline told the empty space where her wife's face had been a moment before. "And then I'm gonna make sure the kids are ok and everyone has what they need. Once that's done, I'm coming home."

It wasn't his place to interfere, Prismo knew the cosmic rules as well as anyone. But he drew the line at standing by helplessly and watching a broken woman suffer over and over again. Couldn't the cosmic plan find someone else to bear their misery for once? All Prismo could do was allow her to vent in his place outside of time and space, let her tear herself and the walls and everything she could get her claws on to shreds because he could repair it all instantly and there was no other safe way for her demon instincts to mourn. She transformed so fast he didn't even see her move, but this time he knew it was coming and didn't flinch.

The rage was spent just as quickly as it came; Prismo knew Marceline couldn't maintain that level of destruction with just her memories to feed it for longer than a few minutes. Or was it hours? He struggled with measuring time objectively, it didn't really matter when he was outside a dimension. By the end of it the Time Room was almost unrecognisable. There were deep gashes in the uncertain substance that made up the walls, chunks had been ripped out and thrown from one end to the other. The floor was cracked and shattered, blue flames still wreathed the ceiling and below it all a gigantic demon snarled and screamed as its body transformed again and again, never stable or comfortable; now with huge black wings that beat once before disintegrating into a swirl of smoke, now a writhing ball of tentacles with a tortured wolf's face, now so many reaching arms and clawing skeletal hands. She wore out, of course, eventually. When there was nothing more than a slim black haired girl of indeterminate age curled quietly on her side amid the destruction Prismo decided it was safe to approach.

"I ignored what I was for too long. Now she's dead and the world is ended. My world. She... she was my whole world. I don't know who I am anymore." Marcy whispered when the outline of a pink shadow hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"I know who you are. I know what your role is and I know that in infinite universes you always play the same part. You're a warrior, you need to get up and fight. Your story isn't over yet, trust me. I know it's not much comfort but the cosmos has plans. Go, kill Estelle. Don't come back here without your vengeance."

She stood. Shakily, uncertainly, still with both fire and sorrow in her eyes, but she stood.

"Thanks man. For what it's worth you're almost right. I'm not a warrior, I'm a weapon. I was always a weapon. Time to fulfil my purpose." Marceline agreed hollowly.

...

It was still more than an hour before dark, they were mostly still sleeping. Nobody had been expecting an attack. Least of all Isaac; the vicious right hand man to Garrett and an infamous sadist, what did he have to fear when he was encamped in the middle of an army surrounded by his dozens of lineage? He'd only left one of them on guard anyway and even then only because it still made him laugh to watch her tremble and stutter when he gave her a direct order.

Overhead the air swirled against the breeze. A leaf moved in a direction that its brethren didn't. And to someone who'd spent centuries watching for every tiny change about them it was enough to alert them to a potential invisible presence.

The girl they called Puta shrank back into the shadows and tried very hard to stop existing. It didn't work, like always, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the fear coursing through her. Wake her Sire for something that was probably nothing? Or leave him sleeping while a potential enemy stalked them? That day he'd had company, she'd heard them fucking loudly for hours while she stood on guard. His plaything hadn't been summoned back to her own Sire yet so he wasn't alone at least. What could she do? Puta dithered, still consumed with indecision, and finally crept forward on feet that would never manage to be stealthy. Perhaps it was nothing, she'd barely even seen anything. It was just a flicker from the corner of her eye anyway, it could have been a trick of the terrible sunlight or a small disturbance in the wind. Oh Glob, but if she'd made a mistake and there was nothing to be alarmed by, if he thought she was spying on him-

Puta gathered the small amount of courage she'd been blessed with and risked a glance into her Sire's tent. She recoiled in terror at what she saw. A tall, muscular woman with very short hair slicked back in a masculine style and elbow length rubber gloves held her Sire and his visitor gagged and bound in ropes that even from a distance reeked of garlic. But it had only been a few seconds, she'd heard no sound of a struggle. How fast was that woman? She should go fetch help, Puta realised through her cold terror. In the very next tent her consanguinae, the rest of the lineage of the same Sire, were also asleep. It wouldn't take much to wake them and raise the alarm, she thought. And then a second thought, a very quiet and often repressed thought, whispered in the back of her mind. _What if I just wait to see what happens?_ It wouldn't leave, wouldn't let her move from the spot where her heavy feet had landed, so she waited and watched.

"Isaac Esteban Vilaro. You know how many times I've daydreamed about reaching down your throat and pulling your lungs out through your ugly face? And this time I get to do it in the name of love, isn't that just touching? What's that, Isaac Esteban? Of all the thoughts you could be having right now, you're wondering how I know your middle name? Are you fucking serious? Not, how did I get into the middle of a heavily fortified siege encampment undetected, why don't any of your powers work right now, no. You want to know how I know your fucking _middle name_? Oh for fuck's sakes, you dumb bastard. I'm a mind reader. I read it out of your thoughts fucking centuries ago. Stay with the plot, dick-cheese."

Puta wasn't brave, she hadn't ever been allowed to be. She wasn't a lot of things, she wasn't even really loyal. So it took her for the entire length of that little speech from her androgynous enemy to make up her mind. She crept forwards as carefully as she could with a shuffling, awkward gait. And of course it wasn't stealthy enough; nothing she'd ever done had been enough. The woman let her get within two feet of her back, stake raised and trembling in the air, before she spun too quickly to follow and the next thing Puta knew her wrists were bound in garlic oil infused ropes and her stake was clattering uselessly to the ground. She fell back with a muffled cry, unable to steady herself with the tiny amount of hovering power she'd been allowed.

"Wow, hello pretty. What happened to your face?" the muscular woman asked with a frown as she gazed down on her latest captive. Puta tried to reply but she couldn't shape shift against the power of the garlic ropes, her skin felt like it was on fire and her strength had fled. She couldn't even spit out the gag, couldn't work her jaw enough to move it at all.

 _So this is how I die,_ she thought to herself. _Finally._

"What do you mean, finally? You _want_ to die? Yeah, we can arrange that. But first you're gonna help me, fatty. I'm looking for a girl. She's young by our standards, only a few hundred years old. Turned from one of their herdlings that was only just still human enough to survive. She has some interesting Talents that my compatriots would like to make use of."

Puta couldn't speak but it didn't matter, the mind reader felt the thrill of shock and horror that ran through her nevertheless.

"Huh, and you just happened to wander right into me. How interesting. Convenient, you might say. I dunno, seems like either your esteemed Sire is playing double agent and trying to make my life easier for me or something else is at work. A prophecy? What do you think, Isaac?"

She spun to him and there was a dark delight plain to see in her sharp features. Puta didn't know this woman but Isaac did and it sounded like they weren't friends. She should do something. The only trouble was that the terrible stench of the garlic oil burned her nostrils and sapped her powers, she was just as weak and useless as she had been in life now that her vampiric abilities had been removed.

"It's only temporary, until we get the ropes off you. Notice how he can't reach through his Sire link to you? Not with his own powers bound. Can't have him alerting the rest of his lineage, right?" the woman said over her shoulder as she gazed as Isaac in his ropes. "What... Say that again, Isaac? What did you just call her?"

Puta cringed, she hated the name she'd been given but she was assured it fit her by anyone who bothered to speak to her. All she knew was that is was a word in the dead language of Isaac's pre-war homeland, that it sounded dirty when it spilled from his lips. It wasn't a good name, she didn't need to understand it to know that.

"Did you name that girl _Puta_ , Isaac?" the muscular woman asked him in a quiet, dangerous voice. She was advancing on him step by step, feet on the ground but still looming menacingly over him. Isaac writhed as much as his bonds would allow and his dark eyes stared up to her, full of terror and remorse. "Does she know what it means? Does she fulfil that role for you, Isaac? Did you think you were _funny_ , to leave her deliberately maimed like that in a society that prizes physical perfection? Was it revenge because Turning her almost killed you? People like you are gonna pay, you realise that, yeah? Stefan Halvard, yeah you remember him, he could have sent anyone to retrieve the girl. Wanna know why I volunteered, Isaac?"

Only a muffled moan escaped from his gag as her hand blurred forward and hauled him to his feet.

"I saw Marco's mind, what was left of it when you'd finished playing with him. I see what it's done to big, dumb Stefan with his shattered heart on his sleeve. And I saw your name screamed in terror in the back of that boy's thoughts before his very best friend in the world was forced to mercy kill him. Stefan made it clean and quick. Almost painless. But you, Isaac? You tortured one of my comrades and forced him to drink blood against his will, you forced him to break his oath. You Turned that girl and left her a shambling mess just because it would be funny and you didn't even bother to give her a real name, you just called her your whore and treated her like an inconvenient pet. Did you let Zoe and Matilda escape on purpose so that they'd lead you here? Because you knew Zoe wouldn't be thinking straight if Matilda's life was threatened and they'd return to their Sire by instinct. That makes a sick kind of sense, it's almost clever by your standards. Isaac Esteban Vilaro, I'm going to really enjoy killing you."

He couldn't heal himself, Puta realised in horror as the woman's hands transformed into vicious claws and began to rip at his exposed flesh. Without his powers her Sire could only lie helplessly whimpering around his gag while his playmate from the night before and his least favoured lineage watched in silent horror. Puta had seen Isaac work plenty of times, she knew all about torture from firsthand experience. But the things that muscular woman did, she'd never seen anything like it. Who'd have known that flesh could be torn away in huge sheets like an orange peel if enough force was applied? How had she never thought to wonder what would happen to the skin and bones of a limb that was slowly, relentlessly twisted until it came away from the body like a wet branch snapping from a tree? The scent of dead blood filled the tent and the muscular woman grinned savagely.

"Don't feel sorry for him, kid. He brought this on himself. No, I'm not going to torture you too! I need you. And we should be heading away, as fun as this has been. Buenas noches, Isaac. Give my love to Garrett when you see him." she added casually to the bleeding, quivering figure at her feet.

He was unrecognisable, still bound in his ropes hands and throat, his one remaining leg was broken in four places and his chest had been shredded until the ribs were exposed. Long ribbons of flesh hung from his waist, flopping down to the ground like grotesque party streamers. And worst of all his guts were spilled out, grey and green, damp, disgusting. She'd forced talons into each eye socket and plucked out his eyeballs, even held the first one up to his remaining eye and crushed it in her fist. Now that same fist shot out, shattered the exposed ribs and reached inside to the silent heart beyond. Isaac's empty eye sockets stared at her unseeingly and Puta couldn't tear her gaze from his ruined face. Then the fist retracted and pulled the heart with it. It came free with a damp noise and even before his murderer could hold it right up the heart and body it came from had crumbled away into dust. The killer turned to look Isaac's playmate in the eye as the tortured screams of his remaining lineage began to fill the air from the next tent over. Their Site link was dying, Pita could barely hear Isaac's murderer over the inhuman wailing.

"You're not his, right? And you're not gonna fight against us, I can see you're too much of a coward. I'm going to let you live, because I'm a fucking good person like that I guess. Tell Estelle from me, she's next."

She whirled and a black bag appeared from nowhere. Next second it was forced over Puta's head and she felt the unmistakable weightlessness of flight fall over her. It was nothing like the pathetically weak hover she'd been able to perform. This was soaring, it was faster than she'd ever gone before. Puta took a long moment to fully absorb what she was feeling while she searched for the word to describe it. There had been precious few moments in her life that were free of horror or pain and it took her a long time to remember the word to describe how flying made her feel. It felt good.

"Yeah, freedom feels pretty sweet, kid. Let's get you back to the palace. Stefan wants to meet you, we've got a job for your unique magic-drinking Talent."

…

There was a complication. There was always a complication and if it had been anyone else Marceline would have flown right over their heads and away on her single-minded quest of vengeance against Estelle. But not when it was Jake.

"She's not dead." he repeated firmly.

"Jakey, Pup, I'm so sorry. I wish you were right but I saw it happen, I saw Estelle cut her head off. Your Mama's gone." she tried to tell him, but he pushed her away shaking his head, fur on end and eyes wild, looking every bit as deranged as Joshua had all those years earlier.

"No. You must have seen wrong, or something else happened. Mom, Mama isn't dead, I'm not the king! I can't be, I was never supposed to be!" he repeated. Marceline landed and tried to pull him into a hug, tried not to be frustrated with the delay in her inevitable battle to the death with Estelle. She'd returned from the Time Room to yelling from downstairs and had gone more by habit than out of any lingering desire to know what was going on.

"Why won't anyone listen to me? I've been saying since before we lost Kim, I can't be king and now everyone's saying Mama's dead when I _know she isn't-_ "

It cost her a lot not to lash out in anger at him. Marceline was powerless to stop herself reliving the indescribable horror of watching her world collapse limp and lifeless onto the sodden ground as dark syrupy blood gushed across the earth and the heartbeat she knew best in the world faltered and failed. It flashed across the inside of her vision and overlaid her son's tear stained face for a long moment.

"Jake..." Marcy started, heartbroken and without any idea how she might finish that sentence. He'd turned from her though, ears pricked at the throne room door.

"Someone's coming. I can't… who is that? I know them but I also don't? Mom, who's out there?"

There wasn't time to reply before the door banged open and Peppermint Butler slouched forward with his suit jacket in disarray and his listless eyes downcast. He was trailed by a boy, rabbit-faced and thin with heavy lidded eyes that seemed like they struggled to focus. Marceline was between him and Jake instantly, before Peps had even opened his mouth.

"May I present Matthew… uh… I didn't get his last name. Vampire defector, wants sanctuary, you know the drill." the candy butler mumbled before turning and marching himself back out of the door. He was scarcely dealing with his grief for his queen any better than Marceline was. If she'd had a single grain of caring left in her she'd feel bad for him but her attention was taken up by staring wide eyed at the vampire before her. She'd thought him dead, surely he'd have come right away with Johnson and the others if he'd survived the Citadel?

"Sprout." she murmured, and he flinched and recoiled from her like she'd slapped him.

"Nobody calls me that anymore. Not since you stood aside and let them murder Cassie. I'm not here to play nicely, Marceline. I just don't want to be on the losing side. Again. You left us to die last time and I'm not letting you fuck it all up again."

"Are you saying you blame me for your sister's death? Like you think I don't carry the guilt of everything I've done wrong every single day? I see her face among the dead, I see them all every time I close my damn eyes. Do you think I wouldn't do it all differently if I could? _Is that what you think, Spout?"_

She finished at a scream, too far gone to care about whether it was healthy to give in to anger. Cassie had been her friend as well as Sprout's sister, she'd been one of the strangest vampires Marceline had ever known. Scarily talented as a Seer but never quite inhabiting the same reality as everyone else, she'd been constantly staring into space and saying strange things that might have been predictions or might have been nonsense. Sprout had always been so protective of his younger sister, he said she had an old soul and needed to be shielded from herself as much as from anyone else. Cassie had been someone completely immune to Marceline in every way no matter how she'd tried to charm or intimidate the younger girl. Of course her brother blamed their queen for her death, who else was left to blame but Cassie herself? But Sprout wasn't listening to her rant, his eyes were scanning her with that same wide, vacant stare his sister had worn when she'd Seen. Marceline realised too late that she had no idea what his Talent might be, she'd never had cause to ask.

"I can see the wounds on your soul from everything you saw and did. I can see where the tears are new and raw, I can see that they tore a part of you away recently. I hope it was agony for you, like losing my sister was for me." he whispered.

" _You-"_

"I made my choice, Sprout. What did I say to you? Never eat a meal cold, it'll hurt your stomach."

Jake had stepped forward with that same look in his eyes that Marceline had seen four centuries before. She gaped speechless as he calmly shifted his shape and became a thin rabbit-faced girl, still covered in golden fur but nevertheless the image of the long-dead Seer.

"Cassie?" Sprout croaked.

"When man has found all the three treasures, brother. I've been reborn so many times waiting to see you again." Jake replied in a voice that was no longer his own.

"Cas, I-"

A furred paw blurred and struck him had across the jaw, cutting him off.

"You can see her soul wounds and you do nothing to remedy them. Do you know how hard it is for me to manifest in this dog's body? We share a soul but my time in this world is long past. Marceline, listen to me, there isn't much time. Remember when you spent weeks finding gold and blue glitter under your nails?" Jake-who-was-Cassie asked.

Marceline tried to think around the icy shock filling her guts. Jake was a reincarnation of Cassie? And she'd never known. Ever since the comet they'd known Finn had had past lives and the Cosmic Owl had even warned her that their sons were both cosmic beings, why had she never thought to wonder if _Jake_ had lived before? And the gold glitter, no she didn't remember, what could glitter possibly have to do with anything?

That's when a memory rose to the front of her mind, as perfect as if it hadn't been sixteen long years since it had happened.

 _Jake sat in her lap, stretching his little arms up to the table and colouring industriously. Outside she could hear Bonnie giggling with Phoebe and Finn but Jake had been insistent that the two of them would make a present for his little brother's birthday together so Marcy humoured him and sat with him as he babbled to himself._

" _Finn gon' bye." Jake informed her proudly when he was finished, brandishing the paper and covering her in a fine shower of the gold and blue glitter he'd covered Phoebe's flames in. He'd never seen his sister turn golden orange but he knew what other fires looked like so she didn't wonder too much that he'd gotten the colours mixed up. Damn glitter, it was already working its way under her nails and into her hair._

" _No, darling, Finn's going to be two, he's not going goodbye." she corrected him with a smile. Jake's little face scowled up from her lap._

" _Bye." he repeated stubbornly._

" _Are you trying to use the Latin that Uncle Stefan taught you, Pup? 'Bi' means 'two' in Latin, clever boy! Oh, is this our family in the picture? And who are these cute rainbow blob people with us?" she asked proudly._

" _My babies." Jake had replied with a blush._

" _You scribbled one out, did you draw too many?"_

" _Sleeping."_

" _Is this long orange one that you coloured over in grey sleeping?"_

" _Yep. An' Mom, look."_

 _He pointed at the likeness of his brother, holding the thin grey figure's hand and wearing a huge happy smile along with a long blonde braid like the Mountain Viking men sported. Finn's hair was still much too short to braid in real life but Jake didn't seem to be too worried about accuracy in his drawings, he'd also placed his brother's figure in the air a foot off the ground, hovering just like their Mom._

" _Are Finn and I flying?" Marceline asked him._

" _Yeah. Flying, gon' bye! Mom, I'm hungry."_

And they'd gone to raid the kitchen together after that, left the picture safe in the nursery so Marceline could fetch it the next day for Finn's second birthday party. She didn't think about the details of that painting for another sixteen years. The long, orange figure who was 'sleeping' and scribbled over with grey like a ghost, that was Kim. Phoebe's flames were both gold and blue these days, and could fill the room if she so desired. Had she been flying with Finn, was that something still to happen? And… Bonnie had been in that picture that Jake had drawn as a child. She'd been standing right next to her wife in the drawing, smiling and covered in love hearts. Jake had said she wasn't dead, he'd said so many slightly odd things over the course of his life, how had she never noticed?

"Cassie, is my son a Seer?" she heard herself ask, though her brain was still too far in shock to regulate her mouth and it was running on autopilot.

"All his life. Don't worry that you didn't notice, neither did he for the longest time. I was subtle, I was with him in spirit but I tried to shield him from too many of the visions. Often as a child he didn't know they were different from any other daydream. And now I must go, now that the message is finally delivered." Cassie replied through Jake's lips.

"Wait! You said, that night, you told me to go north and that you'd find me. Why did nobody come?" Marcy asked. It was the least important of all the thousands of questions swirling around her head but it was the one that somehow forced itself out of her mouth first. Cassie frowned thoughtfully, a strange look on her morphed and furred face, thinking about it before she replied.

"I did. I've been here for years. I told you to find life in beauty twice, didn't I? And look, you found her."

Another memory slammed against Marceline's mind and she reeled. This was even further back in time still, back when she'd first arrived at the palace with Finn, Jake and Joshua when the boys were being hunted by the Lich, before she'd made up with Bonnie and they'd finally figured out how to have an adult relationship.

 _The Honour Guard being in the palace on top of her and Bonnie's unresolved tension had been making her feel a little crazy so she'd bailed, taken Finn out flying. Only once she'd double checked that her princess was alone with Jake did she risk barrelling back in through the open window to catch up with whatever their latest developments were. Jake toddled over and solemnly presented her with a drawing then too, a vivid red apple with a green leaf. And he'd looked her right in the eyes and said;_

" _Princess is pretty. Pretty pretty."_

She'd thought it both mortifying and adorable, that he had no idea that Bonnibel's name literally translated to 'Pretty-Pretty' or that his soon-to-be-mother harboured a secret adoration of the princess' beauty. Cassie had told her to find life in beauty twice. Jake had literally told her to her face that Bonnie was beauty twice. _Find life_. And just before Sprout arrived and everything had gone even more insane he'd repeated over and over that she wasn't dead-

A portal ripped the air in front of them and Cassie smiled with Jake's mouth again.

"Good luck." she murmured before turning to her brother. He was still staring at her pale faced and eyes wide. "Sprout, take care. I love you. We'll meet again."

"Cass..."

Jake's face dropped back into his Dog features as he slumped half unconscious into Marceline's arms. She held him as gently as she could with one arm, the other was reaching to her back to unsling the battle ready axe she carried, who knew what this portal was? But the figure that emerged was familiar, even if it took her a moment to recognise him. She'd never seen him so dishevelled and panicked before.

"Daddy?"

"Marcy! Where are Finn and Victoria? Did they arrive safely? I waited as long as I dared but when I didn't hear anything I followed them through. Is the baby here yet?"'

Marceline went, if possible, even colder. No. That wasn't what was happening, because Victoria was nowhere near full term yet. But time moved differently in the Nightosphere, she should have remembered. A day in Ooo might be a second there, or it could be a whole month. To Finn and Victoria it could have seemed like they'd been abandoned with no word for weeks. But they would never disobey her direct orders and return before it was safe. Would they?

"I don't understand, Finn and Victoria are in the Nightosphere with you, aren't they? Daddy?"

His face wore the same stricken expression as her own, perfectly mirrored on features that despite being older and masculine were unmistakably the same.

"Victoria is having the baby, she said she'd arranged with you to come through when it happened. Tell me they're here." he said blankly.

"Then, if they're not here, where are they?" Marceline replied. She'd gone still, not even breathing more than was necessary to talk. There'd been times in her long life when she'd been terrified, times she thought she might die or worse, that something might happen to her children. But this was fear without end, fear that consumed her from the soul outwards. Her youngest son, his girlfriend and their infant were missing, Estelle was still out there, Bonnie was… who knew? And now the air was tense and heavy again, another damn prophecy was trying to force itself true.

"Not Latin, Mom. Greek." Jake mumbled from her arms. Then his head lolled to one side in a faint and she lowered him gently to the floor.

"The Latin word for 'two' is 'bi'. Daddy, what's the Greek word for 'two'?" she asked in a rush, already knowing the answer deep in her soul but hoping with everything she had that she was wrong.

"What? I, uh- it's 'di'. The Greek word meaning 'two' is 'di'. What does that have to do with Finn?"

"I hope I'm wrong. I hope it means nothing. But if Finn isn't going to go bye then all those years ago when Jake first started to See, he got the word wrong. Finn's either going to become two, which could mean the baby is going to be born? Or it could mean… We have to find him, Daddy!"

Locked deep in the darkest part of her mind Marceline knew that Jake's prophecy wasn't about his brother becoming 'two' in any sense of the word. She needed to make the most important choice in all of her thousand years, to go and try to find her wife, taking Jake's word for it that she wasn't truly dead? Or to go to her youngest son before it was too late. Bonnie might already be dead, what if Jake's pronouncement had been from grief instead of his inherited Talent? She only let herself think about it for a split second before making her decision. Because if she didn't act now it would be too late. If Jake hadn't been saying that Finn was going bye and he wasn't talking about somehow becoming two then he had been saying that Finn was going to die. And a prophecy was trying to come true. Marceline unslung her axe and strode to the door, she was going to save her son no matter what the damn cosmos and it's stupid prophecies said.


	23. Chapter 23

**Guysss we're in the final arc of the trilogy! I wanted to do all the action in just one chapter but that really isn't possible, so I had to slice it up a little. Sorry. This chapter is mostly from a PoV you might not be expecting but there wasn't any other way to do it, so I hope you don't mind that particular character getting a lot of screen time. I usually try to avoid OCs interacting with OCs too much but it was unavoidable here. Like I said before though, if you don't like OCs this isn't the story for you.**

 **A quick note on requests! I've had so many of them, and a lot of them I'm sorry to say just won't be getting done. I'm sorry. I've been unwell (as you know) and unfortunately I just had to cut back on what I was going to do. So if you requested something and I haven't written it, I apologise for letting you down. Having said that, if you requested a post-finale one shot, that will definitely be getting done just as soon as I find time to catch up with the episodes I've missed. I love you guys, I hate letting you down. I hope you can forgive me.**

 **Content Warning: exposition, reveals, descriptions of injury, science, a cliffhanger (sorry).**

* * *

"Ok, listen, stop. I should fill you in on what's going on here a little. We're not the bad guys, ok? We're the good guys. I mean, you saw me torture that dude to death back there but, uh, other than that we're good. I'm good. Chaotic Good? I guess, I never thought too much about it. Some people are super hung up on alignments, Marce is, but I don't like labels. Look, don't tell Stefan I murder-tortured Isaac, yeah? He'll be a little bitch about it literally forever and I don't wanna hear it. Oh and if you meet Princess Phoebe... don't mention the torture to her either, yeah? Call it a favour to me, since I rescued you."

Puta couldn't have replied if she'd wanted to, the gag was still firmly lodged in her mouth beneath the dark hood covering her face. But she nodded mentally and the androgynous vampire grinned. More than anything she wanted that gag gone, it tasted like garlic and death.

"If I take the gag off and you scream I'll drop you and you'll probably die. So I've decided to trust you because I hold all the cards and literally you, alright? Only for that reason. I will drop you too, I'm not bluffing. Hold still."

It wasn't like she had any choice about holding still, not with those cold muscles locked like iron around her. Puta nodded anyway to show she understood and her captor ripped away first the hood over her face and then the gag from her mouth with a shudder of revulsion for the garlic stench.

"Thanks." she whispered once the taste had faded a little.

"Don't mention it. I'm not gonna untie you yet though. Not till we're back to the palace. Cause kid, it's awesome that I rescued you from that douche Isaac but I'm kinda hanging all my hopes on you. Tell me about your Talent. Oh hey, I'm Elliot by the way."

Elliot, the woman had a name. It was a pretty name, she decided. Much nicer than Puta. The girl didn't understand half of what the other vampire told her but that was fine, she was away from Isaac and she was actually flying for real. What could it hurt to talk about her Talent now? Wait, if her Sire was dead, did that mean she was now a free Maatouk?

"I can still hear you." Elliot reminded her with a crooked grin. "Technically yes, you're a free Maatouk. You don't have a Sire and you can make your own decisions. How cool is that? Nobody in your head, nobody else influencing your thoughts... forcing you to do anything against your will..."

She trailed off with a heavy sigh and shook her head.

"I thought you were going to kill me." Puta whispered.

"Nah, you're too useful. So, this Talent. How does it work, exactly?"

"I, uh, I dunno. I bite someone and drink sorta extra and magic comes with the blood. It's like hitting the reset button on them, so they go back the way they were before the magic was on them. I tried to do it to myself but it didn't work."

"Can't use your Talent on yourself, that's like page one of How To Be A Vampire. Listen, I'm not going to call you Puta. It's hideous, you deserve a real name. Since you're our only hope, I'mma call you Hope. That's your name now, right?"

"Hope." the girl whispered to herself as they hurtled through the gloom away from the fading screams of her former life. "I like that."

"Good. Fingers crossed you're feeling generous enough to use that Talent to save a life or two. You hungry?" Elliot asked with a strange expression on her face. Hope didn't understand, it felt like the other vampire was trying to be significant in some way that went right over her head. She hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings and it hadn't been a long flight; Hope could make out the shape of the palace Isaac had been ordered to besiege looming huge in front of them. Next second they swooped through the main doors and down a complex maze of passageways into the basement where a huge, broad shouldered vampire with heavy blonde hair tumbling to his shoulders waited for them.

"Stefan! I found her!" Elliot announced proudly. "I renamed her Hope because Isaac called her Puta like the fucking walking-haemorrhoid he is. Was. Eh, he's dead now. Uh, sorry, I know that wasn't part of the plan but he got in the way. That was super satisfying by the way, anyone else you want me to ice?"

He wasn't listening, he was staring at the girl with an inscrutable gaze.

"You're the magic drinker?" the man called Stefan finally asked with a hint of a strange accent behind his words.

"Yes." Hope squeaked when Elliot elbowed her in the ribs encouragingly.

"My name is Stefan Halvard, you may have heard horror stories about me. Most of them are true. I'm going to reach into your mind and take away the pain from your broken Sire link, is that ok? And while I'm doing that Elliot is going to thaw our frozen package. Then you're going to drink some magic for me. Have you ever drank another vampire's Talent away from someone?" he asked gently. Hope flinched anyway.

"I don't understand the question." she muttered with her eyes fixed on the floor in shame and submission.

"If another vampire had affected someone with their Talent and you then bit that person, could you remove the vampire's control over them?" he explained.

"I think so. Maybe. I've never tried, all I've ever done is take the vampirism away from people who displeased Isaac. Then he'd drink them, or let his other lineage tear them apart. They couldn't just be made immortal again with my Talent on them, it makes them magic-proof."

Elliot had gone over to a smooth section of the pale pink wall as they talked and pressed an invisible panel. When the wall slide aside to reveal a hidden chamber Hope's eyes widened. She had no idea what she was staring at except that it was a very cold glass coffin shaped like a tube with the outline of a person frozen solid inside.

"Decompression process initiated. Thaw process initiated. Vitrification reversal imminent. Please standby." a robotic voice announced from the machine next to the glass tube. Something mechanised was happening inside, some sort of metal arms injecting the prone form at various point. Hope was about to ask what was happening but almost as soon as the hypodermic needles were back from the skin of the frozen body her awareness flared with a solitary thump, like a heart trying to beat again. It was nothing more than a single sluggish pulse but it answered her questions. Whoever was in the tube was being brought back from the dead.

"No magic can truly raise the dead." she gasped, horrified and fascinated.

"I know." Stefan replied. "That's why we're using science."

The lid of the tube swung open as another dull heartbeat flared, then another and another. Hope found herself looking at the body of a pretty young woman dressed only in a thin nightgown. Her skin was so pale from the ice that it was impossible to say what hue she'd originally been but the long, heavy looking hair that was flowing around her shoulders was a vivid fuchsia beneath its rime of ice. Hope had never seen a face so beautiful before, or so sad.

"She was their queen." Stefan whispered reverently. "And she was one of the best friends I ever had. She trusted me to bring her back once the danger was past. It's too early, I'm not sure if it's safe yet but we're running out of time. I'm going to reach into your thoughts now and hold the broken link so that Elliot can take the garlic ropes off your hands and you can use your Talent. Take her back to before Garret's Talent touched her."

There were so many questions filling Hope's mind as Elliot untied her, so much confusion. But Elliot had rescued her, anyone who was against Isaac and his friends must be good, right? She'd met Garrett before, been more than averagely acquainted with the sole of his boot or his fists plenty of times. It wouldn't be hard to find the corruption of his touch in another's mind at least. Hope felt the moment Stefan slid into her thoughts and captured the broken Sire link. He collapsed to the floor groaning and clawing at his face, arching his back and shuddering with the agony for the second time in his life.

"Hey. He's not torturing himself for fun, you know. Bite the queen before she comes around and starts screaming the place down again." Elliot commanded her. Hope dragged her eyes away from the twitching man on the floor and hurriedly stumbled over to the weird glass coffin. She gazed down onto that peaceful, beautiful face for a moment before taking one slim arm, lifting it to her mouth, and gingerly pressing her fangs into the cold flesh.

...

 _At first it had been like being trapped in a nightmare. There had been plenty of times in Bonnibel's eight and a bit centuries when her perception of reality had become temporarily skewed for some reason. None of them compared to waking up alone in a huge mimicry of her palace full of miles of winding corridors and doors that didn't open. The windows showed nothing but the same dense twist of thorns that she knew represented her brain injury and they also didn't open no matter how she tugged at them and bitterly wished there was a single thing she could use as leverage. Bonnie had even climbed to the very top of the tallest tower and found it deserted but still in a state of construction. In desperation she'd considered throwing herself over the edge when the isolation had gotten too overwhelming. One solitary thought kept her going; after everything she'd done to bend the prophecy of her death to her will she wasn't about to throw her hard won life away out of simple despair. The place she found herself in wasn't real, she was certain of that. No, something else was happening there. Wherever she was it felt very much like the virtual reality she'd perfected years before but also somehow less real, like being in a dream or a nightmare. And of all the things she'd ever been certain of in her unnatural life, Bonnie knew with a soul deep certainty that she wouldn't be there forever. Someone would come for her, sooner or later, and they'd bring her home to her family._

 _Time passed, or perhaps it didn't. She was alone and time was hard for her to measure even under perfect conditions. But eventually things changed. Instead of wandering the corridors of her deserted palace and hammering on the doors, desperately trying to get one to open, Bonnie began to shiver. She watched as ice began to creep across the walls and windows, obscuring everything beneath an iron hard glaze too thick to break away or even crack. The air was colder than she'd ever felt before and her limbs began to stiffen and harden despite her robust candy biology. All Bonnie could do as the ice grew into twisting spears all around her was huddle in a corner by the main doorway, shiver, and wait._

 _There was no warning. One second the hall was silent and the pale figure curled on the floor motionless. The next an explosive boom rang out so loud that it shook Bonnie to her bones and sent huge ice sheets cascading away from the walls to crash and shatter against the floor all around._

 _Boom!_

 _It was a struggle but adrenaline forced her to her feet, eyes wide and breath streaming in the glacial air. Ice was beginning to break away in chunks big enough to crush her now but it was also melting into a constant stream that flooded all around her. As Bonnie watched in awe the icy tide swept against the many locked doorways lining the long entrance hall and with a cacophony of creaks and groans they burst open under the pressure. It should have washed her away too but she found she was able to stand against the current._

 _"Good, you're still alive. I've, um, never done that before. Show me where the magic is."_

 _There was a woman standing in the main entrance. Bonnie stared. Not only was she the first person the candy golem had seen in all her time there, she huge and was so badly beaten and mutilated it seemed impossible that she should even be able to move under her own power. Nevertheless the creature dragged herself forward and flashed what was possibly a shy smile before looking down at her huge, misshapen feet. As she walked the deep but weirdly bloodless open gashes in her flabby skin flapped and Bonnie couldn't help but stare._

 _"I wasn't allowed to heal. Isaac thought it was funnier to keep me this way." the newcomer mumbled self consciously when she glanced up and found horrified eyes still glued to her face._

 _"Who are you?" Bonnie asked when she found her voice._

 _"Hope." the woman answered simply._

 _"Right, of course. And, uh, what exactly is going on? Did my wife send you?"_

 _"You and Elliot are married?"_

 _"Elliot sent you?"_

 _"And Stefan Halvard. I've heard of him, he's terrifying. He almost killed my Sire one time, and then Elliot did kill him and I'm just so grateful, now I can talk and fly and think without him in my head all the time. I just wanted to undo the hurt they'd done to my herd, I never wanted to be Isaac's toy or his weapon."_

 _Bonnie nodded for lack of anything better to do. As much as she wanted to question the stranger and maybe bend herself into every yoga position she knew just to glory in the sensation of warmth in her limbs again, more than anything she wanted to go home._

 _"Do you know how to get home?" she asked, changing the subject as gently as possible._

 _"Yeah, I'm not really here anyway. I mean, sort of neither are you. We're in your mindscape. I need to fix some things before we can leave. Come on, I'll know it when I see it." Hope replied._

 _That made so much sense; Bonnie could have slapped herself for not seeing sooner that she was trapped in her mind. But then why were the doors locked? Why were they open now? Hope had shambled off up the still damp corridor, glancing into each room as she passed and shaking her head in disappointment each time. For having such an unwieldy frame and badly damaged legs she made light work of the distance and was soon at the base of the main tower staircase. Bonnie jogged behind to keep up. She decided to observe for the moment until she was in a place where her questions might receive answers rather than vague ramblings. It didn't seem like her new acquaintance was in possession of all the facts. Besides she'd said they were going home after something was fixed, that was worth some temporary uncertainty. Bonnie didn't necessarily trust the newcomer but she also didn't seem to have any choice._

 _"That way just goes up to the tower, there's no way out up there." Bonnie called when Hope began to heave herself up the staircase with her gashes and torn muscle flailing hypnotically._

 _"I can smell the magic! It starts up here, we need to find the specific memory he used!" she replied cryptically._

 _"The specific memory who used?"_

 _"Garrett! The Vampire King! His stink is all over this place. Where did he start?"_

 _It felt a little like the ice was still holding her rigid. Bonnie swallowed hard against the knot of frozen terror in the base of her throat at the memory of Garrett's fangs breaking her skin. Her hand flew to the place where the wound should have been but found no marks, was that because they'd healed or because she was inside her own mind?_

 _"Garrett did this to me." Bonnie said out loud to herself as she hurried up the stairs after Hope._

 _"Yeah, he does it to a lot of people." the big woman confirmed distractedly. "He likes to use his Talent on the biggest herdlings, make them fight to the death for sport. One time he made Isaac think he was a fairy princess instead of a vampire. Everyone laughed, then Isaac beat me when Garrett undid it. Elliot killed him you know, she's my hero."_

 _"Elliot killed Garrett?"_

 _"No, she killed Isaac. Someone else killed Garrett. 'Perra de fuego', Isaac said. He wanted to torture her with water."_

 _Bonnie didn't speak every dead language, there were plenty she'd come across and never managed to completely understand. But Spanish was one of her earliest, along with German, it was something that just seemed to be instinctive in her brain as though she'd spoken it a long time ago. It had something to do with the Mother and the ancient humans who'd fused with molten sugar in the fires of the mushroom bombs. Perra de fuego meant 'fire bitch', she knew that without a doubt._

 _"Are you telling me that my daughter killed an ancient vampire?" Bonnie asked in disbelief._

 _"I don't know. Ah, it's here! This is the memory he chose!" Hope announced as she stopped in one of the thousands of doorways that lead off from the stairwell. It looked no different than any of the others to Bonnie but the monstrous woman was sniffing the air around the door frame excitedly and motioned her forwards once the queen had caught up. "Do you recognise what's going on?"_

 _Bonnie's breath caught in her throat._

 _"It's my wedding day." she murmured. "That's my wife. We're dancing our last dance of the night before we retire to our bedchamber. What's wrong with her face?"_

 _The woman waltzing in memory-Bonnibel's arms wore a porcelain mask with only small holes in the pupils to see through. Her head was covered by a mane of vivid red hair that tumbled past her shoulders but beneath that long tendrils of silky blackness hung loose, like the red hair was a bad wig that had been put on too hastily. The wedding guests that danced around them showed no outward sign of seeing anything out of place and Hope was gaping around in confusion like she had no idea what was happening._

 _"That woman with you, is that how she always looks? She stinks of Garrett's mind magic." the big woman announced._

 _"I don't know." Bonnie replied truthfully. "This isn't right, I know it wasn't like this but I can't remember what it was like. I can't bring it to the surface of my thoughts. Is that because we're in the memory right now?"_

 _"I dunno. Maybe? I'm gonna suck Garrett's grossness away and see if it looks better. Give me a minute." Hope replied._

 _Bonnie stepped back obediently and watched in fascination as the mangled woman opened her mouth wide and with an unsettling click dislocated her jaw like a snake. Her whole mouth and throat were distorted, stretched impossibly wide as she inhaled without end. The scene around them began to warp, the mask on her wife's face began to crack and it turned to Hope and snarled as it fought to stay in place. The huge woman snarled back and sucked harder; with a long howl in its creators voice the last strands of Garrett's magic disintegrated and disappeared into Hope's stretched maw. She snapped her jaw shut with a click and swallowed hard. Bonnie wasn't looking at her. She reached forward, desperate to touch the memory before her, but her fingers passed through her wife's face and she staggered off balance. Everything was spinning into a blur of colours and noise, she was trying to say a name that was slamming back into her mind, the huge woman who'd accompanied her was talking again but nothing mattered anymore except the memories that were flooding her as the mental palace disintegrated around them._

 _..._

"MARCY!"

Bonnibel opened her eyes and tried to rocket upwards, tried to shove away Stefan's hands from where he was holding her shoulders. Elliot was there too and Hope, even more hideously disfigured in real life than in the mind palace and wrapped in ropes that stank of garlic. Bonnie didn't have a single shred of caring left for them. All she wanted was to hold her wife.

"Woah, relax! You've been cryogenically frozen, you need to wait before you go running off!" Stefan told her in a rush. Bonnie stared at him, not understanding. "You faked your death so that the prophecy would pass over you. I kept you hidden as long as I could, until we were certain it had definitely passed. The plan worked, you're alive."

The plan... prophecy... it was all distant and a little confusing but it was beginning to come back to her as the long seconds dragged by.

"I remember. You sent the automaton?" Bonnie asked as she shook her head to clear it.

"Yes. It worked perfectly." Stefan confirmed.

"I don't remember you putting me in the tank. Why don't I remember?"

"Garrett, uh, he died. And his Talent in your mind went haywire, you didn't know where you were or who you were. You were temporarily blinded."

"I was trapped in the mind palace."

Stefan swallowed hard and exchanged a glance with Elliot that absolutely didn't bode well.

"What aren't you telling me?" Bonnie demanded. She was in no mood to be coddled or treated like an invalid, in fact she felt more mentally stable than she had for-

"Phoebe killed Garrett." Elliot announced. "She also married the Flame Lord in a sham betrothal, killed him, killed her bio-dad and put her brother Daven on the flame throne. All in one morning."

Bonnie almost choked.

"SHE DID WHAT?"

"She was a credit to the kingdom." Stefan soothed weakly. Instead of the cascade of panic in her mind growing beyond her control he was surprised to find her pushing it down, throwing logic over the hysteria before it could get out of hand. With a visible effort Bonnie calmed herself.

"And Marcy? Did she... is she ok? I need to see her, I have to explain. Grod, she thinks I'm _dead_ -"

"She's fine, she's obviously grieving and hurting but she's still here and still fighting." Stefan replied.

"I need to see her. _Now_. Take me to her!"

"Elliot, stay with Hope. Keep her safe." Stefan commanded as he swept from the room after the queen.

Bonnie was sore and stiff from being frozen for so long but she appeared to be regaining her strength at an incredible rate. Stefan tried to probe her thoughts and discover what had changed but he found her so much harder to read than usual, so much mentally stronger than he was used to. She reached to Throne Room within minutes and shoved the doors open hard enough to make them bounce off the wall and startle the people inside. One was Peppermint Butler, who stuttered in disbelief when he saw her and began to tremble before he scrambled to her side and wrapped her legs in a tight hug.

"Shh, it's ok, Peps. I'm fine, I'm alive. It was all a ruse to control the prophecy." Bonnie told him softly as she stroked a loving hand across his dome. He was sobbing, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Mama?" a weak voice inquired, and Bonnie turned to the other occupant of the room. It was a vampire she didn't recognise and for a moment she was confused, but he stood aside to reveal Jake half propped against the side of her throne.

"Jakey, what happened? Are you ok?"

She was across the room and by his side within a second, paying no mind to the strange vampire. Stefan was more than capable of dealing with him.

"I knew you weren't dead." he told her faintly. "I knew... I had a girl in my head. I can See, sometimes. I Saw you were still here, somewhere. Mama, you gotta go to Mom. She went after Finn, they're at the Ice Fort."

After more than eight centuries Bonnibel had finally ran out of time. Her hands stilled from worriedly checking over her son for injuries and she stared at him, hardly daring to breathe as her vision tunnelled in horror.

"I have to go." she gasped. She sprang up and made for the door onto to be caught by Stefan.

"I'm coming with you." the big man announced.

"No, you have to stay here. I was alone. It's the Cosmic Owl dream that started all of this, I have to be there alone. Stefan, I need to go _now_. I'm ordering you, stand aside." Bonnie commanded him. She drew herself up to her full height, looked him dead in the eye and tried to radiate a confidence she didn't completely feel. Stefan drifted aside after a moment. Perhaps he'd been about to say something but a huge boom from outside interrupted him. He paled even further than his naturally bloodless complexion as his eyes slid out of focus, reaching through the walls with his Talent to the minds of whoever was causing the noise outside.

"Elliot killed Isaac. They're retaliating with everything they have." he whispered. "Go! We'll man the defences, hold them off until you get back!"

Bonnie didn't need to be told twice. She pressed a hasty kiss to Jake's forehead before sprinting from the room and up to the nearest staircase. The window at the top was easily thrown open and with a sharp whistle Bonnie flung herself out without a second glance. She landed perfectly astride the Morrow and yelled their destination to him over the shriek of the building storm winds in her ears. As they sped away, far too fast for any of the attacking vampires to follow, Bonnie looked down to the expanse of grass between the town walls and the forest and felt her heart seize in fear for her kingdom. There was a vast army stretched out across the ground, full of hastily thrown together siege equipment and torches glittering like an extension of the city. There was a choice to be made, the same one she'd known deep down for hundreds of years would have to come one day. Her kingdom, or her wife? Bonnie swallowed against the panic that wanted to rise as bile in her throat and made her decision. All of her centuries of research and careful creation was in jeopardy, everything she'd done since she'd first conceived of her kingdom. And it still didn't change her mind. She chose Marceline.


End file.
